LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF
SAN7A CRUZ
SPEECHES OF BENJAMIN HARRISON
E
66
HZ
PREFACE.
IT is not the purpose of this book to present a few selec-
tions of oratory, laboriously prepared and polished, or
occasional flashes of brilliant thought. From such efforts,
prepared, perhaps, after days of study and repeated revi-
sion, one can form but an imperfect idea of their author.
Such a compilation might show the highest conceptions of
the man, and evidence a wide range of thought and a sur-
passing grandeur of expression; but it would be but a
poor mirror of the man himself in his daily life.
It is due to the people that the largest opportunity be
given them to observe the character of their public ser-
vants, to come into closest touch with their daily thoughts,
and to know them as they are — not when prepared for
special occasions, but day after day and all the time. It
is with this view that this collection of the speeches of
President Harrison is offered to the public. It is a series
of instantaneous photographs that have caught him un-
awares. The studied pose is wanting, but the pictures are
true to life.
There are included the letter of acceptance, the inaug-
ural address, the letter to the commercial congress, ex-
tracts from his last annual message to Congress, his patri-
otic message on the Chilian affair, and a few carefully
prepared speeches, among them his notable addresses at the
banquet of the Michigan Club, February 22, 1888, and before
the Marquette Club at Chicago, March 20, the same year;
also his celebrated speech at Galveston, in April last. All
4 PREFACE.
and concise, forcible, and elegant expression. With these
exceptions, the speeches presented were delivered during
the presidential campaign of 1888, often four or five in a
day, to visiting delegations of citizens, representing every
occupation and interest, and during his tours of 1890 and
1891, when he often spoke eight or ten times a day from
the platform of his car.
If these speeches contained no other merit, they would
be remarkable in the fact that, while delivered during
the excitement of a political campaign and in the hurry
of wayside pauses in a journey by railroad, the}' contain
not one carelessly spoken word that can detract from their
dignity, or, by any possible distortion of language, be
turned against their author by his political opponents.
With no opportunity for elaborately studied phrases, he
did not utter a word that could be sneered at as weak or
commonplace. This fact is all the more noteworthy when
we recall the dismal failures that have been made by
others under like circumstances.
A spirit of exalted patriotism and broad statesmanship
is apparent in every line; and notwithstanding the ma-
lignity of the partisan assaults that were made -upon him,
no words of bitterness — only terms of generous tolerance —
characterize his allusions to his political opponents.
With a single notable exception, no thought of same-
ness or repetition is ever suggested. That exception was
the central thought and vital principle that was at stake
in the campaign. One marvels at his versatility in adapt-
ing himself to every occasion, whether he was addressing
a delegation of miners, of comrades in war, or of children
from the public schools ; we admire the lofty thoughts and
the delicious humor ; but while he might soften in tender,
playful greeting of children, or live again with his com-
rades the old life of tent and field, he never for one mo-
ment forgot the great principle whose banner he had been
chosen to uphold. Protection of American industrv was
PREFACE. 5
always his foremost thought — and how well he presented
it! What an example to the politician who seeks by
evasion or silence to avoid the questions at issue !
The book is therefore presented with the gratifying be-
lief that a valuable service has been rendered in collect-
ing these speeches and putting them in an enduring form,
not only because they give the American people the most
lifelike mental portrait of their Chief Magistrate, but be-
cause they are a valuable contribution to American liter-
ature.
In order to the best understanding and appreciation of
an address, it is often necessary to know the circumstances
in which it was delivered. Especially is this true when
the address was made, as many of these were, to some
particular organization or class of citizens or at the cele-
bration of some important event. For this reason, as well
as for their important historical value, an account is given
of the occasion of each speech, including, as far as they
could be learned, the names of the more distinguished per-
sons who were present and took part in the exercises.
C.H.
WASHINGTON, D. C., February 20, 1892.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
BENJAMIN HARRISON, twenty-third President of the United
States, was born Tuesday, August 20, 1833, at North Bend,
Hamilton County, Ohio. He is the second son of the late John
Scott and Elizabeth Irwin Harrison.
His father — the third son of President William Henry Harrison
and Anna Symmes — was born at Vincennes, Indiana, was twice
elected to Congress as a Democrat, from the Cincinnati district,
and died in 1878.
General William Henry Harrison, ninth President of the United
States, was the third son of a famous signer of the Declaration of
Independence — Benjamin Harrison, of Virginia, and his wife Eliz-
abeth Bassett. This Benjamin Harrison, " the signer, " was one of
the first seven delegates from Virginia to the Continental Congress.
He reported the resolution for independence, was Speaker of the
House of Burgesses, and was thrice elected Governor of Virginia,
dying in 1791 ; he was the eldest son of Benjamin and Anna Carter
Harrison, both of whom were descended from ancestors distin-
guished for their high character and their services to the colony
of Virginia.
Ben Harrison's boyhood was passed upon his father's farm in
Ohio. At the age of 14, with his elder brother Irwin, he attended
Farmer's College at Cincinnati, preparatory to entering Miami Uni-
versity at Oxford, Ohio, from which institution he graduated in
1852.
He studied law in the office of Judge Belamy Storer at Cincin-
nati, and in March, 1854 — with his bride, Miss Caroline W. Scott,
to whom he was wedded October 20, 1853 — he located at Indian-
apolis and began the practice of the law.
In 1860 he was elected reporter of the decisions of the Supreme
Court of Indiana, as a Republican, receiving 9,688 majority.
In July, 1862, he was commissioned by Gov. Oliver P. Morton
as second lieutenant, and raised Company A of the Seventieth
Indiana Volunteer Infantry, was commissioned captain, and on the
organization of the regiment was commissioned colonel. In Au-
gust his regiment entered the field and became a part of the 1st
Brigade of the 1st Division of the 20th Army Corps, Gen. W. T.
Ward, of Kentucky, brigade commander. At the battle of Resaca,
Sunday, May 15, 1864, the Seventieth Regiment led the brigade in
a gallant charge, and its colonel signally distinguished himself,
being among the first to scale the bloody parapet. He actively
participated in the engagements at Cassville, New Hope Church,
Gilgal Church, Kulps Hill, and Kenesaw. Following that great
8 BIOGRAPHICAL.
captain in the Atlanta campaign, initiatory to his famous march
to the sea, Colonel Harrison at the battle of Peach Tree Creek, July 20,
1864, in the crisis of the fight, without awaiting orders, seized an
important position and successfully resisted, at great loss, the ter-
rific assaults of a large detachment of Hood's army. For this
brilliant achievement, upon the recommendation of Major-General
Joe Hooker, he was brevetted in March, 1865, by President Lin-
coln, a brigadier- general, to date from January 23, 1865.
In October, 1864, while at the front, he was re-elected, by 19,713
majority, reporter of the Supreme Court, which office he had lost
by accepting a commission in the army. After four years as re-
porter he resumed his law practice, forming a partnership with
Albert G. Porter and W. P. Fishback. About 1870 Mr. Fishback re-
tired, and the firm became Porter, Harrison & Hines ; upon Gov-
ernor Porter's retirement W. H. H. Miller took his place, and in
1883 Mr. Hines retired, and, John B. Elam coming in, the firm be-
came Harrison, Miller & Elam.
In 1876 Hon. Godlove S. Ortli was nominated as Republican can-
didate for Governor of Indiana, but pending the canvass he unex-
pectedly withdrew. In this emergency, during General Harrison's
absence on a trip to Lake Superior, the Central Committee substi-
tuted his name at the head of the ticket. Undertaking the can-
vass despite adverse conditions, he was defeated by Hon. James D.
Williams — -""Blue Jeans" — by a plurality of 5,084 votes.
In 1878 he was chosen chairman of the Republican State Con-
vention.
In 1879 he was appointed by President Hayes a member of the
Mississippi River Commission.
In 1880 he was chairman of the delegation from Indiana to the
National Convention, and with his colleagues cast 34 consecutive
ballots for James G. Elaine in that historic contest.
President Garfield tendered him any position but one in his
Cabinet, but the high honor was declined.
In January, 1881, he was elected United States Senator — the
unanimous choice of his party — to succeed Joseph E. McDonald,
and served six years to March 3, 1887.
In 1884 he again represented his State as delegate at large to the
National Convention.
January, 1887, he was a second time the unanimous choice of
his party for United States Senator, but after a protracted and ex-
citing contest was defeated on the sixteenth joint ballot, upon
party lines, by 2 majority.
June 25, 1888, he was nominated at Chicago by the Republican
National Conventon for President, on the eighth ballot, receiving
544 votes against 118 for John Sherman, 100 for Russell A. Alger,
and 59 for Walter Q. Gresham. He was chosen President by 233
electoral votes against 168 for Grover Cleveland. The popular vote
resulted: 5.536,242 (48.63 per cent.) for the Democratic ticket,
5,440,708 (47.83 per cent.) for the Republican ticket, 246,876 (2.16
per cent.) for the Prohibition, 146,836 (1.27 per cent.) for the
Union Labor, and 7,777 (0.11 per cent.) scattering.
HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
DETROIT, FEBRUARY 22, 1888.
Michigan Club Banquet.
THE Michigan Club, the largest and most influential
political organization in the State, held its third annual
banquet at the Detroit Rink on Washington's Birthday,
1838.
The officers of the club were : President ', Clarence A.
Black; Vice- President, William H. Elliott; Secretary ',
Fred. E. Farnsworth ; Treasurer, Frederick Woolfenden.
Senator Thomas W. Palmer was president of the even-
ing; the vice-presidents were: Hons. F. B. Stockbridge,
C. G. Luce, J. H. Macdonald, Austin Blair, H. P. Bald-
win, David H. Jerome, R. A. Alger, O. D. Conger, Chas.
D. Long, E. P. Allen, James CVDonnell, J. C. Burrows,
M. S. Brewer, S. M. Cutcheon, Henry W. Seymour, Benj.
F. Graves, Isaac Marston, Edward S. Lacy, John T. Rich,
O. L. Spaulding, Geo. W. Webber, Geo. Willard, E. W.
Keightley, R. G. Horr, E. O. Grosvenor, James Bimey,
C. E. Ellsworth, D. P. Markey.
The distinguished guests and speakers of the evening
from other States were : General Benjamin Harrison, Ind. ;
General Joseph R. Hawley, Conn. ; "Hon. William Mc-
Kinley, Jr., Ohio; Hon. Joseph G. Cannon, Hon. John
F. Finerty, and General Green B. Raum, 111. ; Hon. L.
E. McComas, Md. ; and Hon. James P. Foster, N. Y.
General Harrison responded to the sentiment, " Wash-
ington, the republican. The guarantee of the Constitu-
10 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
tion that the State shall have a republican form of gov-
ernment is only executed when the majority in the States
are allowed to vote and have their ballots counted."
His speech attracted widespread attention at the time,
and is considered one of his greatest. One expression
therein — viz. : " I am a dead statesman, but a living and
rejuvenated Republican" — went broadcast over the land
and became one of the keynotes of the campaign.
Senator Harrison made the first reference of the even-
ing to the name of "Chandler." It was talismanic;
instantly a great wave of applause swept over the banquet-
hall, and thenceforth the speaker carried his hearers
with him.
The Senator spoke as follows :
Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Michigan Club — I feel that I
am at some disadvantage here to-night by reason of the fact that I
did not approach Detroit from the direction of Washington city.
I am a dead statesman ["No ! No !"] ; but I am a living and rejuve-
nated Republican. I have the pleasure to-night, for the first time
in my life, of addressing an audience of Michigan Republicans.
Your invitations in the past have been frequent and urgent, but I
have always felt that you knew how to do your own work, that
we could trust the stalwart Republicans of this magnificent State
to hold this key of the lakes against all comers. I am not here
to-night in the expectation that I shall be able to help you by any
suggestion, or even to kindle into greater earnestness that zeal and
interest in Republican principles which your presence hereto-night
so well attests. I am here rather to be helped myself, to bathe
my soul in this high atmosphere of patriotism and pure Republi-
canism [applause] by spending a little season in the presence of
those who loved and honored and followed the Cromwell of the
Republican party, Zachariah Chandler. [Tremendous applause. ]
The sentiment which has been assigned me to-night — "Washing-
ton, the republican ; a free and equal ballot the only guarantee of
the Nation's security and perpetuity"— is one that was supported
with a boldness of utterance, with a defiance that was unexcelled
by any leader, by Zachariah Chandler always and everywhere.
[Applause. ] As Republicans we are fortunate, as has been sug-
gested, in the fact that there is nothing in the history of our
party, nothing in the principles that we advocate, to make it im-
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 11
possible for us to gather and to celebrate the birthday of any
American who honored or defended his country. [Cheers. ] We
could even unite with our Democratic friends in celebrating the
birthday of St. Jackson, because we enter into fellowship with him
when we read his story of how by proclamation he put down
nullification in South Carolina. [Applause.] We could meet with
them to celebrate the birthday of Thomas Jefferson ; because there
is no note in the immortal Declaration or in the Constitution of
our country that is out of harmony with Republicanism. [Cheers. ]
But our Democratic friends are under limitation. They have a
short calendar of sense, and they must omit from the history of
those whose names are on their calendar the best achievements of
their lives. I do not know what the party is preserved for. Its
history reminds me of the boulder in the stream of progress, imped-
ing and resisting its onward flow and moving only by the force
that it resists.
I want to read a very brief extract from a most notable paper —
one that was to-day in the Senate at Washington read from the
desk by its presiding officer — the "Farewell Address of Wash-
ington ; " and while it is true that I cannot quote or find in the
writings of Washington anything specifically referring to ballot-
box fraud, to tissue ballots, to intimidation, to forged tally-sheets
[cheers], for the reason that these things had not come in his day
to disturb the administration of the Government, yet in the com-
prehensiveness of the words he uttered, like the comprehensive
declarations of the Holy Book, we may find admonition and guid-
ance, and even with reference to a condition of things that his pure
mind could have never contemplated. Washington said : "Liberty
is indeed little less than a name where the Government is too
feeble to withstand the enterprises of factions, to confine each
member of society within the limits prescribed by the law, and to
maintain all in the secure and tranquil enjoyment of the rights of
persons and property. " If I had read that to a Democratic meeting
they would have suspected that it was an extract from some Re-
publican speech. [Laughter. ] My countrymen, this Government is
that which I love to think of as my country ; for not acres, or
railroads, or farm products, or bulk meats, or Wall Street, or all
combined, are the country that I love. It is the institution, the
form of government, the frame of civil society, for which that flag
stands, and which we love to-day. [Applause.] It is what Mr.
Lincoln so tersely, yet so felicitously, described as a government
of the people, by the people, and for the people ; a government of
the people, because they instituted it — the Constitution reads,
12 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
"We, the people, have ordained;" by the people, because it is
in all its departments administered by them ; for the people, be-
cause it states as its object of supreme attainment the happiness,
security and peace of the people that dwell under it. [Applause. ]
The bottom principle — sometimes it is called a corner-stone,
sometimes the foundation of our structure of government — is the
principle of control by the majority It is more than the corner-
stone or foundation This structure is a monolith, one from founda-
tion to apex, and that monolith stands for and is this principle
of government by majorities, legally ascertained by constitutional
methods. Everything else about our government is appendage, it
is ornamentation. This is the monolithic column that was reared,
by Washington and his associates For this the War of the Revolu-
tion was fought , for this and its more perfect security the Consti -
tution was formed ; for this the War of the Rebellion was fought ;
and when this principle perishes the structure which Washington
and his compatriots reared is dishonored in the dust. The equal-
ity of the ballot demands that our apportionments in the States for
legislative and congressional purposes shall be so adjusted, that
there shall be equality in the influence and the power of every
elector, so that it shall not be true anywhere thai) one man counts
two or one and a half and some other man counts only one half.
But some one says that is fundamental. All men accept this
truth. Not quite. My countrymen, we are confronted by this
condition of things in America to-day ; a government by the
majority, expressed by an equal and a free ballot, is not only
threatened, but it has been overturned. Why is it to-day that
we have legislation threatening the industries of this country?
Why is it that the paralyzing shadow of free trade falls upon the
manufactures and upon the homes of our laboring classes? It is
because the laboring vote in the Southern States is suppressed.
There would be no question about the security of these principles
so long established by law, so eloquently set forth by my friend
from Connecticut, but for the fact that the workingmen o£ the
South have been deprived of their influence in choosing representa-
tives at Washington.
But some timid soul is alarmed at the suggestion. He says we
are endeavoring to rake over the coals of an extinct strife, to see if
we may not find some ember in which there is yet sufficient vitality
to rekindle the strife Some man says you are actuated by
unfriendly feelings toward the South, you want to fight the war
over again, you are flaunting the bloody shirt. My countrymen,
those epithets and that talk never have any terrors for me.
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 13
[Applause.] I do not want to fight the war over again, and I am
sure no Northern soldier — and there must be many here of those
gallant Michigan regiments, some of which I had the pleasure
during the war of seeing in action — not one of these that wishes to
renew that strife cr fight the war over again. Not one of this
great assemblage of Republicans who listen to me to-night wishes
ill to the South. If it were left to us here to-night the streams of
her prosperity would be full. We would gladly hear of her reviving
and stimulated industry. We gladly hear of increasing wealth in
those States of the South. We wish them to share in the onward
and upward movement of a great people. It is not a question of
the war, it is not a question of the States between '61 and '65, at
all, that I am talking about to-night. It is what they have been
since '60. It is what they did in '84, when a President was to be
chosen for this country.
Our controversy is not one of the past ; it is of the present. It
has relation to that which will be done next November, when our
people are again called to choose a President. What is it we ask?
Simply that the South live up to the terms of the surrender at
Appomattox. When that great chieftain received the surrender of
the army of Northern Virginia, when those who had for four years
confronted us in battle stacked arms in total surrender, the terms
were simply these . " You shall go to your homes and shall be there
unmolested so long as you obey the laws in force where you reside. "
That is the sum of our demand. We ask nothing more of the
South to-night than that they shall cease to use this recovered
citizenship which they had forfeited by rebellion to oppress and
disfranchise those who equally with themselves under the Constitu-
tion are entitled to vote— that and nothing more.
I do not need to enter into details. The truth to-day is that the
colored Republican vote of the South, and with it and by conse-
quence the white Republican vote of the South, is deprived of all
effective influence in the administration of this Government The
additional power given by the colored population of the South in
the Electoral College and in Congress was more than enough to
turn the last election for President, and more than enough to
reverse — yes, largely more than reverse — the present Democratic
majority of the House of Representatives. Have we not the spirit
to insist that everywhere north and south in this country of ours
no man shall be deprived of his ballot by reason of his politics?
There is not in all this land a place where any rebel soldier is sub-
ject to any restraint or is denied the fullest exercise of the elective
franchise. Shall we not insist that what is true of those who
14 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
fought to destroy the country shall be true of every man who
fought for it, or loved it, like the black man of the South did
[applause] — that to belong to Abraham Lincoln's party shall be
respectable and reputable everywhere in America? [Cheers.]
But this is not simply a Southern question. It has come to be a
national question, for not only is the Republican vote suppressed
in the South, but I ask you to turn your eyes to as fair and pros-
perous a territory as ever sat at the door of the Federal Union
asking admission to the sisterhood of the States. See yonder in
the northwest Dakota, the child of all these States, with 500,000
loyal, intelligent, law-abiding, prosperous American citizens
robbed to-day of all participation in the affairs of this Nation.
The hospitable door which has always opened to territories seek-
ing admission is insolently closed in her face — and why? Simply
because the predominating sentiment in the Territory of Dakota is
Republican — that and nothing more. And that is not all. This
question of a free, honest ballot has crossed the Ohio River. The
overspill of these Southern frauds has reached Ohio and Indiana
and Illinois, indicating to my mind a national conspiracy, having
its centre and most potent influence in the Southern States, but
reaching out into Ohio, Indiana and Illinois in its attempt by
frauds upon the ballot-box to possess the Senate of the United
States. Go down to Cincinnati in a recent election and look at
the election returns, shamelessly, scandalously manipulated to
return members to the Senate and House of Ohio, in order that
that grand champion of Republican principles, John Sherman,
might be defeated. Go yonder with me to Chicago and look into
those frauds upon the ballot — devised, executed in furtherance of
the same iniquitous scheme, intended to defeat the re-election of
that gallant soldier, that fearless defender of Republican principles,
John A. Logan of Illinois. [Great cheering.]
And these people have even invaded Indiana. At the last election
in my own State, first by gerrymander, they disturbed and utterly
destroyed the equality of suffrage in that State ; it was so framed
as to give the Democratic party a majority of 50 on joint ballot ;
and Indiana gave a Republican majority on members of the
Legislature of 10, 000, and yet they claim to hold the Legislature.
And that is not all. Then, when gerrymander had failed, they
introduced the eraser to help it out [laughter] ; scratched our tally-
sheets, shamelessly transferred ballots from Republican to Demo-
cratic candidates. How are we going to deal with these fellows?
What is the remedy? As to the Southern aspect of this question,
I have first to suggest that it is in the power of the free people of
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 15
the North, those who love the Constitution and a free and equal
ballot, those who, while claiming this high privilege for them-
selves, will deny it to no other man, to welcome a President who
shall not come into office, into the enjoyment of the usufruct of
these crimes, against the ballot [applause] ; that will be great gain.
And then we should aim to place in the Southern States, in every
office exercising federal authority, men whose local influence will
be against these frauds, instead of such men as the district attorney
appointed by Mr. Cleveland, who in this recent outrage upon the
ballot in Jackson, Miss. , was found among the most active con-
spirators, when, by public resolution of a Democratic committee,
Republicans of that city were warned away from the polls. Then
again we shall keep ourselves free from all partisanship if we
lift our voice steadily and constantly in protest against these
offences.
There is vast power in a protest. Public opinion is the most
potent monarch this world knows to-day. Czars tremble in its
presence ; and we may bring to bear upon this question a public
sentiment, by bold and fearless denunciation of it, that will do a
great deal towards correcting it. Why, my countrymen, we meet
now and then with these Irish -Americans and lift our voices in
denunciations of the wrongs which England is perpetrating upon
Ireland. [Applause.] We do not elect any Members of Parlia-
ment, but the voice of free America protesting against these cent-
uries of wrongs has had a most potent influence in creating, stim-
ulating and sustaining the liberal policy of William E. Gladstone
and his associates. [Great applause.] Cannot we do as much for
oppressed Americans? Can we not make our appeal to these Irish-
American citizens who appeal to us in behalf of their oppressed
fellow-countrymen to rally with us in this crusade against election
frauds and intimidation in the country that they have made their
own? [Applause.]
There may be legislative remedies in sight when we can once
again possess both branches of the national Congress and have an
executive at Washington who has not been created by these crimes
against the ballot. [Applause.] Whatever they are, we will seek
them out and put them into force — not in a spirit of enmity
against the men who fought against us — forgetting the war, but
only insisting that now, nearly a quarter of a century after it is
over, a free ballot shall not be denied to Republicans in these
States where rebels have been rehabilitated with a full citizenship.
[Applause.] Every question waits the settlement of this. The
tariff question would be settled already if the 1,000,000 of black
16 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
laborers in the South had their due representation in the House of
Representatives.
And my soldier friends, interested that liberal provisions should
be made for the care of the disabled soldier — are they willing that
this question should be settled without the presence in the House of
Representatives of the power and influence of those faithful black
men in the South who were always their friends? [Applause.]
The dependent pension bill would pass over the President's veto
if these black friends of the Union soldier had their fair represen-
tation in Congress. [Applause.] It is the dominant question at
the foundation of our Government, in its dominating influence
embracing all others, because it involves the question of a free and
fair tribunal to which every question shall be submitted for
arbitrament and final determination. Therefore, I would here, as
we shall in Indiana, lift up our protest against these wrongs which
are committed in the name of democracy , lift high our demand,
and utter it with resolution, that it shall no longer be true that any-
where in this country men are disfranchised for opinion's sake.
I believe there are indications that this power is taking hold of
the North. Self-respect calls upon us. Does some devotee at the
shrine of Mammon say it will disturb the public pulse? Do we
hear from New York and her markets of trade that it is a disturb-
ing question and we must not broach it? I beg our friends, and
those who thus speak, to- recollect that there is no peace, that there
can be no security for commerce, no security for the perpetuation
of our Government, except by the establishment of justice the
country over. [Great applause.]
CHICAGO, MARCH 20, 1888.
Marquette Club Banquet.
ON the evening of March 20, 1888, General Harrison
was the honored guest of the Marquette Club of Chi-
cago— one of the leading social and political organizations
of that great city — at their second annual banquet, given
at the Grand Pacific Hotel.
The officers of the club for that year were : George V.
Lauman, President; William H. Johnson, First Vice-
President; Hubert D. Crocker, Second Vice- President;
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 17
Charles U. Gordon, Secretary; Will Sheldon Gilbert,
Treasurer.
The Banquet Committee and Committee of Reception for
the occasion comprised the following prominent members :
James S. Moore, Frederick G. Laird, LeRoy T. Steward,
Wm. H. Johnson, James E. Rogers, F. W. C. Hayes,
Henry T. Smith, Harry J. Jones, Chas. S. Norton, Irving
L. Gould, T. A. Broadbent, Jas. Rood, Jr., Wm. A.
Paulsen, T. M. Garrett, Geo. W. Keehn, Harry P. Fin-
ney, C. B. Niblock, Wm. A. Lamson, S. E. Magill,
R. D. Wardwell, Fred. G. McNally.
President Lauman was toastmaster, and opened the ban-
quet with an address of welcome to Senator Harrison.
The other speakers of the evening were Edward J. Judd,
Theodore Brentano, Hon. Thomas C. MacMillan, Hon.
John S. Runnells, Newton Wyeth, Mayor Roche and Presi-
dent Tracy of the State League of Republican Clubs.
Amid hearty applause General Harrison rose to respond
to the toast, "The Republican Party." He spoke as fol-
lows:
Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Marqnette CM)— I am under
an obligation that I shall not soon forget in having been permitted
by your courtesy to sit at your table to night and to listen to the
eloquent words which have fallen from the lips of those speakers
who have preceded me. I count it a privilege to spend an evening
with so many young Republicans. There seems to be a fitness in
the association of young men with the Republican party. The
Republican party is a young party. I have not yet begun to call
myself an old man, and yet there is no older Republican in the
United States than I am. My first presidential vote was given for
the first presidential candidate of the Republican party, and I have
supported with enthusiasm every successor of Fremont, including
that matchless statesman who claimed our suffrages in 1884. We
cannot match ages with the Democratic party any more than that
party can match achievements with us. It has lived longer, but to
less purpose. " Moss -backed" cannot be predicated of a Republican.
Our Democratic friends have a monopoly of that distinction, and
it is one of the few distinguished monopolies that they enjoy ; and
yet when I hear a Democrat boasting himself of the age of his
18 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
party I feel like reminding him that there are other organized evils
in the world, older than the Democratic party. "The Republican
party, " the toast which you have assigned to me to-night, seems
to have a past, a present and a future tense to it. It suggests
history, and yet history so recent that it is to many here to-night
a story of current events in which they have been participants.
The Republican party — the influences which called it together were
eclectic in their character. The men who formed it and organ-
ized it were picked men. The first assembly that sounded in its
camp was a call to sacrifice, and not to spoils. It assembled about
an altar to sacrifice, and in a temple beset with enemies. It is
the only political party organized in America that has its " Book
of Martyrs. " On the bloody fields of Kansas, Republicans died for
their creed, and since then we have put in that book the sacred
memory of our immortal leader who has been mentioned here to-
night— Abraham Lincoln — who died for his faith and devotion to
the principles of human liberty and constitutional union. And
there have followed it a great army of men who have died by reason
of the fact that they adhered to the political creed that we loved.
It is the only party in this land which in the past has been pro-
scribed and persecuted to death for its allegiance to the principles
of human liberty. After Lincoln had triumphed in that great
forum of debate in his contest with Douglas, the Republican party
carried that debate from the hustings to the battle-field and forever
established the doctrine that human liberty is of natural right
and universal. It clinched the matchless logic of Webster in his
celebrated debate against the right of secession by a demonstration
of its inability.
No party ever entered upon its administration of the affairs of
this Nation under circumstances so beset with danger and diffi-
culty as those which surrounded the Republican party when it took
up the reins of executive control. In all other political contests
those who had resisted the victorious party yielded acquiescence
at the polls, but the Republican party in its success was confronted
by armed resistance to national authority. The first acts of Re-
publican administration were to assemble armies to maintain the
authority of the Nation throughout the rebellious States. It organ-
ized armies, it fed them, and it fought them through those years
of war with an undying and persistent faith that refused to be
appalled by any dangers or discouraged by any difficulties. In the
darkest days of the rebellion the Republican party by faith saw
Appomattox through the smoke of Bull Run, and Raleigh through
the mists of Chiekamaiiga ; and not only did it conduct this great
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 19
civil war to a victorious end, not only did it restore the national
authority and set up the flag on all those places where it had been
overthrown and that flag torn down, but it in the act and as an
incident in the restoration of national authority accomplished that
act which, if no other had been recorded in its history, would have
given it immortality. The emancipation of a race, brought about
as an incident of war under the proclamation of the first Repub-
lican President, has forever immortalized the party that accom-
plished it.
But not only were these dangers and difficulties and besetments
and discouragements of this long strife at home, but there was
also a call for the highest statesmanship in dealing with the foreign
affairs of the Government during that period of war. England and
France not only gave to the Confederacy belligerent rights, but
threatened to extend recognition, and even armed intervention.
There was scarcely a, higher achievement in the long history of
brilliant statesmanship which stands to the credit of our party than
the matchless management of our diplomatic relations during the
period of our war ; dignified, yet reserved, masterful, yet patient.
Those enemies of republican liberty were held at bay until we had
accomplished perpetual peace at Appomattox. That grasping
avarice which has attempted to coin commercial advantages out of
the distress of other nations which has so often characterized
English diplomacy naturally made the Government of England
the ally of the Confederacy, that had prohibited protective duties
in its constitution, and yet Geneva followed Appomattox. A trinity
of effort was - necessary to that consummation — war, finance and
diplomacy ; Grant, Chase, Seward, and Lincoln over all, and each
a victor in his own sphere. When 500, 000 veterans found themselves
without any pressing engagement, and Phil Sheridan sauntered
down towards the borders of Mexico, French evacuation was ex-
pedited, and when Gen. Grant advised the English Government that
our claims for the depredations committed by those rebel cruisers
that were sent out from British ports to prey upon our commerce
must be paid, but that we were not in a hurry about it — we could
wait, but in the mean time interest would accumulate — the Geneva
arbitration was accepted and compensation made for these un-
friendly invasions of our rights. It became fashionable again at
the tables of the English nobility to speak of our common ancestry
and our common tongue. Then a,gain France began to remind us
of La Fayette and De Grasse. Five hundred thousand veteran troops
and an unemployed navy did more for us than a common tongue
and ancient friendships would do in the time of our distress. And
20 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
we must not forget that it is often easier to assemble armies than
it is to assemble army revenues. Though no financial secretary
ever had laid upon him a heavier burden than was placed upon
Salmon P. Chase to provide the enormous expenditures which the
maintenance of our army required, this ceaseless, daily, gigantic
drain upon the National Treasury called for the highest statesman-
ship.
And it was found, and our credit was not only maintained through
the war, but the debt that was accumulated, which our Democratic
friends said could never be paid, we at once began to discharge when
the army was disbanded.
And so it is that in this timely effort — consisting first in this
appeal to the courage and patriotism of the people of this country
that responded to the call of Lincoln and filled our armies with
brave men that, under the leadership of Grant and Sherman and
Thomas, suppressed the rebellion, and under the wise, magnificent
system of our revenue enabled us to defray our expenses, and under
the sagacious administration of our State Department held Europe
at bay while we were attending to the business at home. In these
departments of administration the Republican party has shown
itself conspicuously able to deal with the greatest questions that
have ever been presented to American statesmanship for solution.
We must not forget that in dealing with these questions we were
met continually by the protest and opposition of the Democratic
party. The war against the States was unconstitutional. There
was no right to coerce sovereign States. The war was a failure,
and a dishonorable peace was demanded. The legal tenders were
illegal. The constitutional amendments were void. And so through
this who]e brilliant history of achievement in this administration
we were followed by the Democratic statesman protesting against
every step and throwing every impediment in the way of National
success until it seemed to be true of many of their leaders that in
their estimation nothing was lawful, nothing was lovely, that did
not conduce to the success of the rebellion.
Now, what conclusion shall we draw? Is there anything in this
story, so briefly and imperfectly told, to suggest any conclusion as
to the inadequacy or incompetency of the Republican party to deal
with any question that is now presented for solution or that we
may meet in the progress of this people's history? Why, country-
men, these problems in government were new. We took the ship
of state when there was treachery at the helm, when there was
mutiny on the deck, when the ship was among the rocks, and we
put loyalty at the helm ; we brought the deck into order and sub-
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 21
jection. We have brought the ship into the wide and open sea of
prosperity, and is it to be suggested that the party that has accom-
plished these magnificent achievements cannot sail and manage the
good ship in the frequented roadways of ordinary commerce?
What is there now before us that presents itself for solution?
What questions are we to grapple with? What unfinished work
remains to be done? It seems to me that the work that is unfin-
ished is to make that constitutional grant of citizenship, the
franchise to the colored men of the South, a practical and living
reality. The condition of things is such in this country — a govern-
ment by constitutional majority — that whenever the people become
convinced that an administration or a law does not represent the
will of the majority of our qualified electors, then that administra-
tion ceases to challenge the respect of our people and that law
ceases to command their willing obedience. This is a republican
government, a government by majority, the majorities to be
ascertained by a fair count and eac\i elector expressing his will at
the ballot-box. I know of no reason why any law should bind my
conscience that does not have this sanction behind it. I know of
no reason why I should yield respect to any executive officer whose
title is not based upon a majority vote of the qualified electors of
this country. What is the condition of things in the Southern
States to-day?
The Republican vote is absolutely suppressed. Elections in many
of those States have become a farce. In the last congressional
election in the State of Alabama there were several congressional
districts where the entire vote for members of Congress did not
reach 2, 000 ; whereas in most of the districts of the North the vote
cast at our congressional elections goes from 80, 000 to 50, 000. I had
occasion to say a day or two ago that in a single congressional
district in the State of Nebraska there were more votes cast to
elect one Congressman than were cast in the State of Alabama at the
same election to elect their whole delegation. Out of what does
this come ? The suppression of the Republican vote ; the understand-
ing among our Democratic friends that it is not necessary that
they should vote because their opponents are not allowed to vote.
But some one will suggest : "Is there a remedy for this?" I do not
know, my fellow-citizens, how far there is a legal remedy under
our Constitution, but it does not seem to me to be an adequate
answer. It does not seem to me to be conclusive against the agita-
tion of the question even if we should be compelled to respond to
the arrogant question that is asked us : " What are you going to
do about it?" Even if we should be compelled to answer; "We
22 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
can do nothing but protest," is it not worth while here, and in
relation to this American question, that we should at least lift up
our protest ; that we should at least denounce the wrong ; that we
should at least deprive the perpetrators of it of "what we used to
call the usufructs of the crime? If you cannot prevent a burglar
from breaking into your house you will do a great deal towards
discouraging burglary if you prevent him from carrying off any-
thing, and so it seems to me that if we can, upon this question,
arouse the indignant protest of the North, and unite our efforts in
a determination that those who perpetrate these wrongs against
popular suffrage shall not by means of those wrongs seat a President
in Washington to secure the Federal patronage in a State, we shall
have done much to bring this wrong to an end. But at least while
we are protesting by representatives from our State Department at
Washington against wrongs perpetrated in Russia against the Jew-,
and in our popular assemblies here against the wrongs which
England has inflicted upon Ireland, shall we not at least in reference
to this gigantic and intolerable wrong in our own country, as a
party, lift up a stalwart and determined protest against it?
But. some of these independent journalists, about which our
friend MacMillan talked, call this the "bloody shirt." They say
we are trying to revive the strife of the war, to rake over the ex-
tinct embers, to kindle the fire again. I want it understood that
for one I have no quarrel with the South for what took place
between 1861 and 1865. I am willing to forget that they were
rebels, at least as soon as they are willing to forget it themselves,
and that time does not seem to have come yet to them. But our
complaint is against what was done in 1884, not against what was
done during the war. Our complaint is against what will be done
this year, not what w^as done between 1861 and 1865. No bloody
shirt — though that cry never had any terrors for me. I believe we
greatly underestimate the importance of bringing the issue to the
front, and with that oft-time Republican courage and outspoken
fidelity to truth denouncing it the land over. If we cannot do
anything else we can either make these people ashamed of this
outrage against the ballot or make the world ashamed of them.
There is another question to which the Republican party has
committed itself, and on the line of wrhich it has accomplished,
as I believe, much for the prosperity of this country. I- believe
the Republican party is pledged and ought to be pledged to the doc-
trine of the protection of American industries and American labor.
I believe that in so far as our native inventive genius — which seems
to have no limit — our productive forces can supply the American
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 23
market, wo ought to keep it for ourselves. And yet this new cap-
tain on the bridge sterns to congratulate himself on the fact that
the voyage is still prosperous notwithstanding the change of com-
manders ; who seems to forget that the reason that the voyage is
still prosperous is because the course of the ship was marked out
before he went on the bridge and the rudder tied down. He has
attempted to take a new direction since he has been in command,
with a view of changing the sailing course of the old craft, but it
lias seemed to me that he has made the mistake of mistaking the
flashlight Of some British lighthouse for the light of day. I do
not intend here to-night in this presence to discuss this tariff ques-
tion in any detail. I only want to say that in the passage of what
is now so flippantly called the war tariff, to raise revenue to carry
on the war out of the protective duties which were then levied,
there has come to this country a prosperity and development which
would have been impossible without it, and that reversal of this
policy now, at the suggestion of Mr. Cleveland, according to the line
of the blind statesman from Texas, would be to stay and interrupt
this march of prosperity on which we have entered. I am one of
those uninstructed political economists that have an impression
that some things may be too cheap ; that I cannot find myself in
full sympathy with this demand for cheaper coats, which seems to
me necessarily to involve a cheaper man and woman under the
coat. I believe it is true to day that we have many things in this
country that are too cheap, because whenever it is proved that the
man or woman who produces any article cannot get a decent living
out of it, then it is too cheap.
But I have not intended to discuss in detail any o'f these questions
with which we have grappled, upon which we have proclaimed a
policy, or which we must meet in the near future. I am only here
to-night briefly to sketch to you the magnificent career of this party
to which we give our allegiance — a union of the States, restored,
cemented, regenerated ; a Constitution cleansed of its compromises
with slavery and brought into harmony with the immortal Declara-
tion ; a race emancipated, given citizenship and the ballot ; a
national credit preserved and elevated until it stands unequalled
among the nations of the world • a currency more prized than the
coin for which it may be exchanged ; a story of prosperity more
marvellous than was ever written by the historian before. This is
in brief outline the magnificent way in which the Republican
party has wrought. It stands to-day for a pure, equal, honest
ballot the country over. It stands to-day without prejudice or
malice, the well-wisher of every State in this Union ; disposed to
24 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
fill all the streams of the South with prosperity, and demanding
only that the terms of the surrender at Appomattox shall be com-
plied with. When that magnificent act of clemency was wit-
nessed, when those sublime and gracious words were uttered by
General Grant at Appomattox, the country applauded. We said
to those misguided men: "Go home" — in the language of the
parole — "and you shall be unmolested while you obey the laws in
force at the place where you reside. " We ask nothing more , but
we cannot quietly submit to the fact, while it is true everywhere
in the United States that the man who fought for years against his
country is allowed the full, free, unrestricted exercise of his new
citizenship, when it shall not also be true everywhere that every
man who followed Lincoln in his political views, and every soldier
who fought to uphold the flag, shall in the same full, ample manner
be secured in his political rights.
This disfranchisement question is hardly a Southern question in
all strictness. It has gone into Dakota, and the intelligent and
loyal population of that Territory is deprived, was at the last elec-
tion, and will be again, of any participation in the decision of
national questions solely because the prevailing sentiment of
Dakota is Republican. Not only that, but this disregard of purity
and honesty in our elections invaded Ohio in an attempt to seize
the United States Senate by cheating John Sherman, that gallant
statesman, out of his seat in the Senate. And it came here to
Illinois, in an attempt also to defeat that man whom I loved so
much, John A. Logan, out of his seat in the United States Senate.
And it has come into our own State (Indiana) by tally -sheet frauds,
committed by Individuals, it is true, but justified and defended
by the Democratic party of the State in an attempt to cheat us all
out of our fair election majorities. It was and is a question that
lies over every other question, for every other question must be
submitted to this tribunal for decision, and if the tribunal is cor
rupted, why shall we debate questions at all? Who can doubt
whether, in defeat or victorious, in the future as in the past, taking
high ground upon all these questions, the same stirring cause that
assembled our party in the beginning will yet be found drawing like
a great magnet the young and intelligent moral elements of our
country into the Republican organization? Defeated once, we are
ready for this campaign which is impending, and I believe that
the great party of 1860 is gathering together for the com ing election
with a force and a zeal and a resolution that will inevitably carry
it, under that standard-bearer who may be chosen here in June, to
victory in November.
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 25
INDIANAPOLIS, JUNE 25, 1888.
Nomination Day.
A FEW hours after the receipt of the news of the nomina-
tion of General Harrison for President, on Monday, June
25, 1888, delegations from neighboring cities and towns
began to arrive to congratulate him. From the moment
the result at Chicago was known, and for two days there-
after, the city of Indianapolis was the scene of excitement
and enthusiasm unparalleled in its history.
The first out-of-town delegation to arrive was the Re-
publican Club of Danville, Hendricks County, Indiana,
three hundred strong, led by the Hon. L. M. Campbell,
Rev. Ira J. Chase, Major J. B. Homan, Joel T. Baker,
Capt. Worrel, and E. Hogate.
They came on the afternoon of the twenty-fifth and
marched to the Harrison residence escorted by about five
thousand excited citizens of Indianapolis, and it was to
these men of Hendricks that General Harrison made his first
public speech — after his nomination — which proved to be
the opening words of a series of impromptu addresses re-
markable for their eloquence, conciseness and variety, and
generally conceded by the press of the day to have been
the most brilliant and successful campaign speeches of his
generation.
To the Danville Club General Harrison said :
Gentlemen — I am very much obliged to my Hendricks County
friends for this visit The trouble you have taken to make this
call so soon after information of the result at Chicago reached you
induces me to say a word or two, though you will not, of course,
expect any reference to politics or any extended reference to the
result at Chicago. I very highly appreciate the wise, discreet and
affectionate interest which our delegation and the people of In-
diana have displayed in the convention which has just closed at
Chicago. [Cries of "Good!" "Good!" and cheers.] I accept your
visit to-day as an expression of your confidence and respect, and
I thank you for it. [Great cheering.]
26 HARBISON'S SPEECHES.
Scarcely had the Danville visit concluded before another
organization from Hendricks County arrived, the Republi-
can Club of Plainfield, led by Dr. Harlan, William G.
Ellis, Oscar Hadley, and A. T. Harrison.
Responding to their call, General Harrison said :
Gentlemen — I can only thank you for this evidence of your
friendliness. That so many of my Hendricks County friends should
have reached Indianapolis so soon, after hearing the result at
Chicago is very gratifying. The people of your county have
always given me the most hearty support whenever I have appealed
to them for support. I have a most affectionate interest in your
county and in its people, especially because of the fact that it fur-
nished two companies to the regiment which I took into the field.
Some of the best and most loyal of these soldiers gave their lives
for their country in the battles in which the regiment was engaged.
These incidents have attached me to the county, and I trust I have
yet, even here among this group, some of my friends of the Seven-
tieth Indiana surviving, who will always be glad to extend to me,
as I to them, a comrade's hand. I thank you for this call.
A few moments later two large delegations arrived from
Hamilton and Howard Counties : Hon. J. R, Gray of
Noblesville and Milton Garrigus of Kokomo delivered
congratulatory addresses on behalf of their townsmen, to
which General Harrison responded :
I thank you, my friends of Hamilton County, for this call. I
know the political steadfastness of that true and tried county.
Your people have always been kind to me. I thank you for this
evidence of your confidence and respect.
Howard County. Of that county I may say what I have said of
Hamilton County. It is a neighbor in location and it is a neigh-
bor in good works. [Great cheering. ]
On the evening of the twenty-fifth five thousand or more
neighbors and residents of the city congregated before the
Harrison residence.
The General, on appearing, was greeted by a demon-
stration lasting several minutes. The standard-bearers,
carrying the great banner of the Oliver P. Morton Club,
made their way to the steps and held the flag over his
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 27
head. Hon. W. N. Harding finally quieted the crowd and
presented General Harrison, who spoke as follows :
Neighbors and Friends — I am profoundly sensible of the kindness
which you evidence to night in gathering in such large numbers
to extend to me your congratulations over the result at Chicago. It
would be altogether inappropriate that I should say anything of a
partisan character. Many of my neighbors who differ with me
politically have kindly extended to me, as citizens of Indianapolis,
their congratulations over this event. [Cries of "Good !" "Good !"J
Such congratulations, as well as those of my neighbors who sym-
pathize with me in my political beliefs, are exceedingly grateful.
I have been a long time a resident of Indianapolis — over thirty
years. Many who are here before me have been with me, during
all those years, citizens of this great and growing capital of a mag-
nificent State. We have seen the development and growth of
this city. We are proud of its position to-day, and we look
forward in the future to a development which shall far outstrip
that which the years behind us have told. I thank you sincerely
for this evidence that those who have known me well and long
give me still their confidence and respect. [Cheers and applause.]
Kings sometimes bestow decorations upon those whom they
desire to honor, but that man is most highly decorated who has
the affectionate regard of his neighbors and friends. [Great
applause, and cries of "Hurrah for Harrison !"] I will only again
thank you most cordially for this demonstration of your regard.
I shall be glad, from time to time, as opportunity offers, to meet
you all personally, and regret that to-night this crowd is so great
that it will be impossible for me to take each one of you by the
hand [cries of "We'll forgive you!"], but we will be here together
and my house will always open its doors gladly to any of you when
you may desire to see me. [Great cheering. ]
INDIANAPOLIS, JUNE 26.
THE evening of the day following his nomination Gen-
eral Harrison was visited by the surviving members of his
old regiment, the Seventieth Indiana Volunteers, led by
Major George "W. Grubbs of Martinsville. There was
also present a delegation from Boone County headed by the
Hon. Henry L. Bynum, O. P. Mahan and S. J. Thomp-
28 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
son; also the returning delegates from Vermont to the
Chicago convention, headed by Gov. Redfield Proctor and
General J. G. McCullough.
Responding to the address of Major Grubbs, on behalf
of the veterans, General Harrison said :
Comrades— Called, as I have been, by the national convention of
one of the great political parties of this country to be its candidate
for the presidency, it will probably be my fortune before the elec-
tion to receive many delegations representing various interests and
classes of our fellow-citizens, but I am sure that out of them all
there will come none whose coming will touch my heart so deeply
as this visit from my comrades of the Seventieth Indiana and these
scattered members of the other regiments that constituted the First
Brigade of the Third Division of the Tweutietli Army Corps. I
recall the scene to which Major Grubbs has alluded. I remember
that summer day, when, equipped and armed, we were called to
leave our homes and cross the Ohio River and enter the territory
that was in arms against the Government which we were sworn to
support. I recall, with you, the tender parting, the wringing of
hearts with which we left those we loved. I recall the high and
buoyant determination, the resolute carriage with which you went
to do your part in the work of suppressing the great rebellion. I
remember the scenes through which we went in that hard discipline
of service and sickness, and all of those hard incidents which are
necessary to convert citizens into veterans.
I remember the scenes of battle in which we stood together. I re-
member especially that broad and deep grave at the foot of the Resaca
hill where we left those gallant comrades who fell in that desper-
ate charge. I remember, through it all, the gallantry, devotion
and steadfastness, the high set patriotism you always exhibited.
I remember how, after sweeping down with Sherman from Chatta-
nooga to the sea and up again through the Carolinas and Virginia,
you, with those gallant armies that had entered the gate of the
South by Louisville and Vicksburg, marched in the great review
up the grand avenue of our Nation's capital.
I remember that proud scene of which we were part that day ;
the glad rejoicing as our faces were turned homeward, the applause
which greeted us as the banner of our regiment was now and then
recognized by some home friends who had gathered to see us— the
whole course of these incidents of battle, of sickness, of death, of
victory, crowned thus by the triumphant reassertion of national
authority, and by the muster out and our return to those homes
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 29
that we loved, made again secure against all the perils which had
threatened them.
I feel that in this campaign upon which I am entering, and
which will undoubtedly cause careful scrutiny, perhaps unkind and
even malicious assault, all that related to my not conspicuous but
loyal services with you in the army I may confidently leave, with
my honor, in the hands of the surviving members of the Seventieth
Indiana, whatever their political faith may be. [Cries of " That is
true, General!" and "Yes!" "Yes!"]
May I ask you now, for I am too deeply moved by this visit to
speak as I would desire, that each one will enter this door, that
will always open with a hearty welcome to you, and let me take
you by the hand? [Cheering.]
The event of the night was the visit of the California
delegation, at ten o'clock, accompanied by the Indiana
delegation to Chicago and several hundred personal friends
and neighbors of General Harrison just returned from
Chicago, where they had been laboring for his nomination.
The Hon. M. H. de Young and John F. Ellison of Cali-
fornia delivered congratulatory addresses, on conclusion of
which the Californians hastened to their train ; after they
departed the great crowd refused to disperse and called
repeatedly for General Harrison, who responded as
follows :
Fellow-Citizens, Ladies and Gentlemen — I am very deeply im-
pressed and gratified with this magnificent demonstration of your
respect. No man can be so highly honored by any convention, or
by any decoration which any of the authorities of the Government
can bestow, as by the respect and confidence of those who live near
him. My heart is touched by this demonstration which my fellow -
citizens have given me of their personal respect for me. I do not,
however, accept this manifestation of interest as wholly due to
myself. The great bulk of those who are assembled here to-night
manifest rather their interest in those political principles which I
have been called by the representatives, in national convention of
the Republican party, to represent in this campaign. But I will
not discuss any of those high issues to-night, because I am glad to
know that among those who are gathered here, and among those
who have paid me the compliment of their presence in my home,
there are many citizens of Indianapolis who differ with me politi-
30 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
cally. I would not, therefore, if it were otherwise proper, mar
this occasion by the discussion of any political topic. I am glad
to have an opportunity to return my sincere and heartfelt thanks
to the Indiana delegation, and to that band of devoted friends who
gathered about them and assisted them in their work at Chicago.
When I saw in the newspaper press of the East and of the West the
encomiums that were passed by the correspondents upon the deport-
ment and character of the representatives of Indiana at Chicago,
I was greatly pleased. When I heard of their affectionate de-
votion, of their discreet and wise presentation of the claims of
Indiana, I was still farther gratified. And if the result of that
convention had been, as it well might have been if individuals
had only been considered in the contest that was there waged, the
selection for this high place of some one other than myself, I
should have felt that the devoted interest, the wise and faithful
presentation by the Indiana delegation of the Indiana situation
was such that the failure to yield to their argument would still
have left me crowned with the highest crown that can be placed
upon mortal brow — the affection and confidence and discreet sup-
port of my friends from Indiana. [Cries of "Good !" "Good !"] I
am glad that the despatches said of them, and truly said, that they
conducted their canvass with that gentle and respectful regard to
the interests and character of the others who were named for this
high place, and that they came home without those regrets which
must have followed if this ATictory had been won at the expense of
any of those noble names that were presented for the suffrage of
the convention.
I do not feel at all that in selecting the candidate who was
chosen regard was had simply to the individual equipment and
qualifications for the duties of this high office. I feel sure that if
the convention had felt free to regard these things* only, some other
of those distinguished men, old-time leaders of the Republican
party, Blaine, or Sherman, or Allison, or some of the others named —
would have b9en chosen in preference to me. I feel that it was the
situation in Indiana and its relation to the campaign that was im-
pending rather than the personal equipment or qualifications of the
candidate that was chosen that turned the choice of the convention
in our direction. We are here to-night to thank those members of
the convention who have done us the honor to pay our capital a visit
to-night not only for this visit, but for the support and interest which
they took in the Indiana candidacy in the convention at Chicago. I
thank you again for gathering here to-night. I am sure that in
this demonstration you give evidence that the interest in this cam-
HARKISON'S SPEECHES. 31
paign will not flag until the election has determined the result of
the contest. And I feel sure, too, my fellow -citizens, that we have
joined now a contest of great principles, and that the armies which
are to fight out this great contest before the American people will
encamp upon the high plains of principle, and not in the low
swamps of personal defamation or detraction. [Cries of " Hear 1"
"Hear!" and "Good !"] Again I thank you for the compliment of
your presence here to-night, and bid you good-night. [Great
cheering. ]
INDIANAPOLIS, JUNE 30.
DURING the afternoon representatives of the Marquette
Club of Chicago— of which General Harrison is an honor-
ary member — called to present a set of congratulatory
resolutions adopted by the club. The committee comprised
Geo. V. Lauman, H. D. Crocker, W. S. Gilbert, E. B.
Gould, H. M. Kingman and J. S. Moore.
One of the resolutions recited that
" The Marquette Club of Chicago takes great pride in
the fact that within its walls and at its board was fired the
first gun in Chicago of that memorable contest which
has culminated in the nomination of its most honored
member, General Benjamin Harrison, to fill the highest
office within the gift of the American people."
General Harrison in response said :
Gentlemen of the Marquette Club — I sincerely thank you for the
congratulations of the Marquette Club of Chicago. I well recol-
lect the evening I spent with you last February, and I remember
how favorably your club impressed me at that time as a body of
active, energetic young Republicans : not so much an organization
for social purposes as for active advancement of Republican prin-
ciples in your vicinity, and in the country as well. I thought I
recognized in you then an efficient body for work in the State of
Illinois, one that could in the coming campaign render signal ser-
vice to the party whose principles its members maintain. I rejoice
in your coming to call on me here, and I hope you will carry my
sincere thanks to your members, and make yourselves welcome
at mv home now and whenever you are in Indianapolis.
32 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
On the evening of June 30 several thousand citizens,
irrespective of party, paid their respects to General Har-
rison ; at the head of the column marched four hundred
veterans commanded by Moses G. McLain. Major James
L. Mitchell, a prominent Democrat, was spokesman for
the veterans.
General Harrison, responding, said :
Comrade Mitchell and Fellow -Soldiers— I sincerely thank you for
this evidence of your respect and comradeship. I am very certain
that there is no class whose confidence and respect I more highly
prize or more earnestly covet than that of the soldiers who, in the
great war from 1861 to 1865, upheld the loved banner of our country
and brought it home in honor. The comradeship of the war will
never end until our lives end. The fires in which our friendship
was riveted and welded were too hot for the bond ever to be
broken. We sympathize with each other in the glory of the com-
mon cause for which we fought. We went, not as partisans, but
as patriots, into the strife which involved the national life. I am
sure that no army was ever assembled in the world's history that
was gathered from higher impulses than the army of the Union.
[Cries of "Right!" "Right!"]
It was no sordid impulse, no hope of spoils that induced these
men to sunder the tender associations of home and forsake their
business pursuits to look into the grim face of death with un-
blanched cheeks and firm and resolute eyes. They are the kind of
men who draw their impulses from the high springs of truth and
duty. The army was great in its assembling. It came with an
impulse that was majestic and terrible. It was as great in its
muster-out as in the brilliant work which had been done in the
field. When the war was over the soldier was not left at the tav-
ern. Every man had in some humble place a chair by some fire-
side where he was loved and towards which his heart went forward
with a quick step. [Applause.]
And so this great army that had rallied for the defence and pres-
ervation of the country was disbanded without tumult or riot or
any public disturbance. It had covered the country with the man-
tle of its protection when it needed it, as the snows of spring cover
the early vegetation, and when the warm sun of peace shone upon
it, it disappeared as the snow sinks into the earth to refresh
and vivify the summer growth. They found their homes ; they
carried their brawn and intellect into all the pursuits of peace to
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 33
stimulate them and lift them up ; they added their great impulse
to that great wave of prosperity which has swept over our country
ever since. [Applause.] But in nothing was this war greater than
in that it led a race into freedom and brought those whom we had
conquered in the struggle into the full enjoyment of a restored cit-
izenship, and shared again with them the responsibilities and
duties of a restored government. [Applause.]
I thank you to-night most sincerely for this evidence of your
comradeship. I thank, specially, those friends who differ with me
in their political views, that they have put these things aside
to-night, and have come here to give me a comrade's greeting.
[Applause.] May I have the privilege now, without detaining you
longer, of taking by the hand every soldier here? [Applause.]
Later, the same evening, the Harrison League of
Indianapolis, numbering three hundred colored men, as-
sembled on the lawn and congratulated the Republican
nominee through its spokesman, Mr. Ben D. Bagby. Gen-
eral Harrison's response was as follow^ :
Mr. Bagby and Gentlemen of the Harrison Club — I assure you
that I have a sincere respect for, and a very deep interest in, the
colored people of the United States. My memory, as a boy, goes
back to the time when slavery existed in the Southern States. I
was born upon the Ohio River, which was the boundary between
the free State of Ohio and the slave State of Kentucky. Some of
my earliest recollections relate to the stirring and dramatic inter-
est which was now and then excited by the pursuit of an escaping
slave for the hope of offered rewards.
I remember, as a boy, wandering once through my grandfather's
orchard at North Bend, and in pressing through an alder thicket
that grew on its margin I saw sitting in its midst a colored man
with the frightened look of a fugitive in his eye, and attempting
to satisfy his hunger with some walnuts he had gathered. He
noticed my approach with a fierce, startled look, to see whether I
was likely to betray him ; I was frightened myself and left him in
some trepidation, but I kept his secret. [Cries of "Good!"
"Good!"] I have seen the progress which has been made in the
legislation relating to your race, and the progress that the race
itself has made since that day When I came to Indiana to reside
the unfriendly black code was in force. My memory goes back
to the time when colored witnesses were first allowed to appear in
court in this State to testify in cases" where white men were par-
3
34 HARBISON'S SPEECHES.
ties. Prior to that time, as you know, you had been excluded
from the right to tell in court, under oath, your side of the story in
any legal controversy with white men. [Cries of "I know that!"]
The laws prevented your coming here. In every way you were at
a disadvantage, even in the free States. I have lived to see this
unfriendly legislation removed from our statute-books and the
unfriendly section of our State Constitution repealed. I have lived
not only to see that, but to see the race emancipated and slavery
extinct. [Cries of "Amen to that !"]
Nothing gives me more pleasure among the results of the war
than this. History will give a prominent place in the story of this
great war to the fact that it resulted in making all men free, and
gave to you equal civil rights. The imagination and art of the
poet, the tongue of the orator, the skill of the artist will be brought
under contribution to tell this story of the emancipation of the
souls of men. [Applause and cries of " Amen !"]
Nothing gives me so much gratification as a Republican as to
feel that in all the steps that led to this great result the Republican
party sympathized with you, pioneered for you in legislation, and
was the architect of those great measures of relief which have so
much ameliorated your condition. [Applause. ]
I know nowhere in this country of a monument that I behold
with so much interest, that touches my heart so deeply, as that
monument at Washington representing the Proclamation of Eman-
cipation by President Lincoln, the kneeling black man at the feet
of the martyred President, with the shackles falling from his
limbs.
I remember your faithfulness during the time of the war. I
remember your faithful service to the army as we were advancing
through an unknown country. We could always depend upon the
faithfulness of the black man. [Cries of "Right you are!"] He
might be mistaken, but he was never false. Many a time in the
darkness of night have those faithful men crept to our lines and
given us information of the approach of the enemj^. I shall never
forget a scene that I saw wrhen Sherman's army marched through
a portion of North Carolina, between Raleigh and Richmond,
where our troops had never before been. The colored people had
not seen our flag since the banner of treason had been set up in its
stead. As we were passing through a village the colored people
flocked out to see once more the starry banner of freedom, the
emblem, promise, and security of their emancipation. I remem-
ber an aged woman, over whom nearly a century of slavery must
have passed, pressed forward to see the welcome banner that told
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. «'>5
her that her soul would go over into the presence of her God. I
remember her exultation of spirit as she danced in the dusty road
before our moving column, and, like Miriam of old, called upon
her soul to rejoice in the deliverance which God had wrought by
the coming of those who stood for and made secure the Procla-
mation of Emancipation. [Applause.]
I rejoice in all that you have accomplished since you have been
free I recall no scene more pathetic than that which I have often
seen about our camp- tires. An aged man, a fugitive from slavery,
had found freedom in our camp. After a day of hard work, when
taps had sounded and the lights in the tents were out, I have seen
him with the spelling-book that the chaplain had given him, lying
prone upon the ground taxing his old eyes, and pointing with his
hardened finger to the letters of the alphabet, as he endeavored to
open to his clouded brain the avenues of information and light.
I am glad to know that that same desire to increase and enlarge
your information possesses the race to-day. It is the open way for
the race to that perfect emancipation which will remove remaining
prejudices and secure to you in all parts of the land an equal and
just participation in the government of this country. It cannot
much longer be withholden from you.
Again I thank you for your presence here to-night and will be
glad to take by the hand any of you who desire to see me. [Great
applause. ]
INDIANAPOLIS, JULY 4, 1888.
The Notification.
THE Indiana Republican State Committee, through its
chairman, the Hon. James N. Huston, designated as a com-
mittee to receive and escort the committee on notification
from the National Convention the following gentlemen :
Ex-Gov. Albert G. Porter, Mayor Caleb S. Denny, Col.
John C. New, J. N. Huston, Col. J. H. Bridgland, Hon.
Stanton J. Peelle, William Wallace, M. G. McLain, N. S.
Byram, Hon. W. H. Calkins, W. J. Richards, and Hon.
H. M. LaFollette.
At noon on July 4 the notification committee represent-
ing the Republican National Convention arrived under
•'W HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
escort at the residence of General Harrison, No. 674 Del-
aware Street. The following delegates comprised the
committee :
Judge Morris M. Estee of California, Chairman; Ala-
bama, A. H. Hendricks; Arkansas, Logan H. Roots; Cali-
fornia, Paris Kilburn ; Colorado, Henry R. Wolcott ; Con-
necticut, E. S. Henry ; Delaware, J. R. Whitaker ; Florida,
F. M. Wicker ; Georgia, W. W. Brown ; Illinois, Thomas
W.Scott; Indiana, J. N. Huston; Iowa, Thomas Upde-
graff ; Kansas, Henry L. Alden ; Kentucky, George Denny ;
Louisiana, Andrew Hero; Maine, Samuel H. Allen; Mary-
land, Wm. M. Marine; Massachusetts, F. L. Burden;
Michigan, Wm. McPherson ; Minnesota, R. B. Langdon;
Mississippi, T. W. Stringer; Missouri, A. W. Mullins;
Nebraska, R. S. Norval ; Nevada, S. E. Hamilton ; New
Hampshire, P. C. Cheney; New Jersey, H. H. Potter;
New York, Obed Wheeler ; North Carolina, D. C. Pearson ;
Ohio, Charles Foster ; Oregon, F. P. Mays ; Pennsylvania,
Frank Reeder; Rhode Island, B. M. Bosworth; South
Carolina, Paris Simpkins; Tennessee, J. C. Dougherty;
Texas, E. H. Terrell; Vermont, Redfield Proctor; Vir-
ginia, Harry Libby; West Virginia, C. B. Smith; Wis-
consin, H. C. Payne; Arizona, Geo. Christ; Dakota, G.
W. Hopp ; Dist. Columbia, P. H. Carson ; Idaho, G. A.
Black ; Montana, G. O. Eaton ; New Mexico, J. F. Chavez ;
Utah, J. J. Daly; Washington, T. H. Minor; Wyo-
ming, C. D. Clark.
Chairman Estee spoke for the committee; his address
signed by each member was also presented to General
Harrison, who in a full, clear voice replied as follows :
Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Committee— The official
notice which you have brought of the nomination conferred upon
me by the Republican National Convention recently in session at
Chicago excites emotions of a profound, though of a somewhat
conflicting, character. That after full deliberation and free con-
sultation the representatives of the Republican party of the United
States should have concluded that the great principles enunciated
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 37
in the platform adopted by the convention could be in some meas-
ure safely confided to my care is an honor of which I am deeply
sensible and for which I am very grateful. I do not assume or
believe that this choice implies that the convention found in me
any pre eminent fitness or exceptional fidelity to the principles of
government to which we are mutually pledged. My satisfaction
with the result would be altogether spoiled if that result had been
reached by any unworthy methods or by a disparagement of the
more eminent men who divided with me the suffrages of the con-
vention. I accept the nomination with so deep a sense of the dig-
nity of the office and of the gravity of its duties and the responsi-
bilities as altogether to exclude any feeling of exultation or pride.
The principle3 of government and the practices in administration
upon which issues are now fortunately so clearly made are so
important in their relations to the national and to individual pros-
perity that we may expect an unusual popular interest in the cam-
paign, Relying wholly upon the considerate judgment of our
fellow-citizens and the gracious favor of God, we will confidently
submit our cause to the arbitrament of a free ballot.
The day you have chosen for this visit suggests no thoughts that
are not in harmony with the occasion. The Republican party has
walked in the light of the Declaration of Independence. It has lifted
the shaft of patriotism upon the foundation laid at Bunker Hill.
It has made the more perfect union secure by making all men
free. Washington and Lincoln, Yorktown and Appomattox, the
Declaration of Independence and the Proclamation of Emancipa-
tion are naturally and worthily associated in our thoughts to-day.
As soon as may be possible I shall by letter communicate to your
chairman a more formal acceptance of the nomination, but it may
be proper for me now to say that I have already examined the
platform with some care, and that its declarations, to some of
which your chairman has alluded, are in harmony with my views.
It gives me pleasure, gentlemen, to receive you in my home and to
thank you for the cordial manner in which you have conveyed
your official message.
At the conclusion of these formalities Charles W. Clis-
bee, one of the secretaries of the National Convention,
presented the nominee an engrossed official copy of the
Republican platform.
July 4, 1888, was a memorable day in the life of
General Harrison and his wife; for aside from the official
38 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
notification of his nomination, they were the recipients of
congratulations of a unique character from the Tippe-
canoe Club of Marion County, a political organization
composed exclusively of veterans who had voted for Gen-
eral William Henry Harrison in the campaigns of 1830
or 1840.
Nearly all the younger and able-bodied members attended
the Chicago Convention and worked unceasingly for the
nomination of General Benjamin Harrison.
Their average age was seventy-five years, while one
member, James Hubbard of Mapleton, was over one hun-
dred years old.
On the afternoon of the fourth, ninety-one of these vet-
erans commanded by their marshal, Isaac Taylor, marched
to General Harrison's house through the rain. They had
adopted a congratulatory address which was presented by
a committee consisting of Dr. George W. New, Judge
J. B. Julian, and Dr. Lawson Abbett, to which General
Harrison feelingly replied as follows :
Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Tippecanoe Club of Marion
County — I am very deeply touched by your visit to-day. The
respect and confidence of such a body of men is a crown. Many
of you I have known since I first came to Indianapolis. I count
you my friends, [Cries of "Yes, sir, we are!"] You have not
only shown your friendliness and respect in the political contests
in which my name has been used, but very many of you in the
social and business relations of life extended to me, when I came
a young man among you, encouragement and help. I know that
at the beginning your respect and confidence was builded upon
the respect, and even affection — may I not say, which you bore to
my grandfather. [A voice, "Yes, that is true !"] May I not, with-
out self -laudation, now say that upon that foundation you have
since created a modest structure of respect forme? [Cries of " Yes,
sir!" "We have!" "That's the talk!"] I came among you with
the heritage, I trust, of a good name [cries of "That's so!"
"Good stock !"], such as all of you enjoy. It was the only inherit-
ance that has been transmitted in our family. [Cries of "It has
been !"] I think you recollect, and, perhaps, it was that as much
as aught else that drew your choice in 1840 to the Whig candidate
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 39
for the presidency, that he came out of Virignia to the West with
no fortune but the sword he bore, and unsheathed it here in the
defence of our frontier homes. He transmitted little to his de-
scendants but the respect he had won from his fellow-citizens. It
seems to be the settled habit in our family to leave nothing else to
our children. [Laughter and cries of "That's enough!"] My
friends, I am a thorough believer in the American test of character
[cries of "That's right!"] ; the rule must be applied to a man's
own life when his stature is taken He will not build high who
does not build for himself. [Applause and cries of "That's true !'']
I believe also in the American opportunity which puts the starry
sky above every boy's head, and sets his foot upon a ladder which
he may climb until his strength gives out.
I thank you cordially for your greeting, and for this tender of
your help in this campaign. It will add dignity and strength to
the campaign when it is found that the zealous, earnest, and intel-
ligent co-operation of men of mature years like you is given to it.
The Whig party to which you belonged had but one serious fault
— there were not enough of them after 1840. [Laughter and
applause. ] We have since received to our ranks in the new and
greater party to which you now belong accessions from those who
were then our opponents, and we now unite with them in the
defence of principles which were dear to you as Whigs, which
were indeed the cherished and distinguishing principles of the
Whig party ; and in the olden and better time, of the Democratic
party also. Chief among these were a reverent devotion to the
Constitution and the flag, and a firm faith in the benefits of a
protective tariff. If, in some of the States, under a sudden and
mad impulse some of the old Whigs who stood with you in the
campaign of 1840, to which you have referred, wrandered from us,
may we not send to them to-day the greetings of these their old
associates, and invite them to come again into the fold?
And now, gentlemen, I thank you again for your visit, and would
be glad if you would remain with us for a little personal inter-
course.
40 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
INDIANAPOLIS, JULY 7.
FIVE hundred commercial travellers paid a visit to
General Harrison on July 7; they came from all parts
of the country, principally from Philadelphia, Cincinnati,
St. Louis, and Louisville. Major James R. Ross was mar
shal of their delegation ; David E. Coffin presented the
" drummers" to General and Mrs. Harrison.
When all had gathered within or about the residence,
Col. Ed. H. Wolfe of Rushville, Indiana, delivered a con-
gratulatory address on behalf of the visitors. General
Harrison, responding, said1.
Gentlemen of the Commercial Travellers' Association of Indiana
and Visiting Friends — I most heartily thank you for this cordial
manifestation of your respect. It is to be expected when one has
been named for office by one of the great parties that those who are
in accord with him in his political convictions will show their
interest in the campaign which he represents, but it is particularly
gratifying to me that many of you who differ with me in political
opinion, reserving your own opinions and choice, have come here
to night to express your gratification, personally, that I have been
named by the Republican party as its candidate for the presidency.
It is a very pleasant thing in politics when this sort of testi-
mony is possible, and it is very gratifying to me to night to
receive it at your hands. I do not know why we cannot hold our
political differences with respect for each other's opinions, and
with entire respect for each other personally. Our opinions upon
the great questions which divide parties ought not to be held in
such a spirit of bigotry as will prevent us from extending to a
political opponent the concession of honesty in his opinion and
that personal respect to which he may be entitled. [Applause. ]
I very much value this visit from you, for I think I know how
to estimate the commercial travellers of America. I am not going
to open before you to-night any store of flattery. I do not think
there is any market for it here. [Laughter and cries of "That's
good !" and cheers. ] You know the value of that commodity per-
fectly. [Laughter and continued applause.] I do not mean to
suggest at all that you are dealers in it yourselves [laughter] in
your intercourse with your customers, but I do mean to say that
your wide acquaintance with men, that judgment of character and
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 41
even of the moods of men which is essential to the successful pros-
ecution of your business makes you a very unpromising audience
upon which to pass any stale compliments.
My memory goes back to the time when there were no commer-
cial travellers. When I first came to Indianapolis to reside your
profession was not known. The retail merchant went to the whole-
sale house and made his selections there. I appreciate the fact
that those who successfully pursue your calling must, in the nature
of things, be masters of the business in which you are engaged
and possess great adaptability and a high order of intelligence.
I thank you again for this visit , and give you in return my
most sincere respect and regard. [Applause.] I regret that there
is not room enough here for your comfort [a voice : "There will be
more room in the White House !" Another- "We will take your
order now and deliver the goods in November!"], but I shall be
glad if any or all of you will remain for a better acquaintance and
less formal intercourse. [Great applause and rousing cheers for
the next President. ]
INDIANAPOLIS, JULY 9.
THE first of many delegations from other States arrived
July 9, from the city of Benton Harbor, Mich., and in-
cluded many ladies. The leading members were F. R.
Gilson, Ambrose H. Howe, Wm. S. Farmer, G. M. Valen-
tines, W. B. Shanklin, E. M. Elick, A. J. Kidd, C. C.
Sweet, O. B. Hipp, R. M. Jones, W. L. Hogan, James Mc-
Donald, Allen Brunson, Frank Melton, P. W. Hall, Geo.
W. Platt, W. L. McClure, J. C. Purrill, E. H. Kelly, J. A.
Crawford, M. J. Vincent, Dr. Boston, M. G. Kennedy,
and Dr. J. Bell. General L. M. Ward was spokesman for
the visitors. General Harrison said :
My Friends — This visit is exceptional in some of its features.
Already, in the brief time since my nomination, I have received
various delegations, but this is the first delegation that has visited
me from outside the borders of my own State. Your visit is also
exceptional and very gratifying in that you have brought with
you the ladies of your families to grace the occasion and to honor
me by their presence. I am glad to know that while the result of
42 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
the convention at Chicago brought disappointment to you, it has
not left any sores that need the ointment of time for their healing.
Your own favored citizen, distinguished civilian, and brave sol-
dier, General Alger, was among the first and among the most cor-
dial to extend to me his congratulations and the assurance of his
earnest support in the campaign. I am sure it cannot be other-
wise than that the Republicans of Michigan will take a deep inter-
est in this campaign ; an interest that altogether oversteps all
personal attachments. Your State has been proudly associated with
the past successes of the Republican party, and your interests are
now closely identified with its success in the pending campaign.
I am sure, therefore, that I may accept your presence here to-
night not only as a personal compliment, but as a pledge that
Michigan will be true again to those great principles of govern-
ment which are represented by the Republican party. We cherish
the history of our party and are proud of its high achievements ;
they stir the enthusiasm of the young and crown those who were
early in its ranks with well- deserved laurels. The success of the
Republican party has always been identified with the glory of the
flag and the unity of the Government. There has been nothing in
the history or principles of our party out of line with revolutionary
memories or with the enlightened statesmanship of the framers
of our Constitution. Those principles are greater than men, lasting
as truth, and sure of final vindication and triumph. Let me thank
you again for your visit, and ask introduction to each of you.
INDIANAPOLIS, JULY 12.
GENERAL HARRISON received four delegations this day.
The first was a committee of veterans from John A. Logan
Post, No. 99, G. A. R., of North Manchester, Wabash
County, who came to invite the General to attend a
soldiers' reunion for Northern Indiana. The committee
comprised Shelby Sexton, Senior Vice-Commander Indi-
ana G. A. R. ; John Elwood, Geo. Lawrence, J. A. Brown,
W. E. Thomas, I. D. Springdon, J. C. Hubbard, J. M.
Jennings, E. A. Ebbinghous, L. J. Noftzger, and S. V.
Hopkins. Rev. R. J. Parrott delivered the address of
invitation. General Harrison responded :
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 43
Comrades and Gentlemen — Your request is one that appeals to
me very strongly, and if it were single I should very promptly
accede to it, but, without being told, you will readily understand
that invitations of a kindred nature are corning to me every day,
presented by individual comrades and committees, but more fre-
quently by written communications.
I have felt that if I opened a door in this direction it would be
a very wide one, and I would either subject myself to the criti-
cism of having favored particular localities or particular organiza-
tions, to the neglect of others having equal claims upon me, or
that I should be compelled to give to this pleasant duty — as it
would be if other duties did not crowd me — too much of my time.
I am, therefore, compelled to say to you that it wTill be impossible
for me to accept your invitation. But in doing this, I wTant to
thank you for the interest you have shown in my presence with
you, and I want especially to thank you for the spirit of comrade-
ship which brings you here. I am glad to know— and I have many
manifestations of it — that the peculiar position in wThich I am
placed as a candidate of a political party does not separate me
from the cordial friendship and comradeship of those who differ
with me politically. I should greatly regret it if it should be so.
We held our opinions and fought for them when the war was on,
and we will hold them now in affectionate comradeship and
mutual respect. I thank you for your visit.
The second delegation also came from "W abash County
and was under the leadership of William Hazen, Warren
Bigler, James P. Ross, James E. Still, Robert Weesner,
John Rodgers, Job Ridgway, and Joseph Ridgway, aged
83, of Wabash City. Their spokesman was Mr. Cowgill.
General Harrison, responding, said :
Mr. Cowgill and my Wabash County Friends — In 1860 I was
first a candidate before a convention for nomination to a public f
office. Possibly some of those who are here to-day were in that
convention. Wabash County presented in the person of my friend,
and afterwards my comrade, Col. Charles Parrish, a candidate for
the office which I also sought, that of Reporter of Decisions of the
Supreme Court of the State of Indiana. We had a friendly yet
earnest contest before the convention, in which I succeeded. A
little later in the campaign, as I was attempting to render to my
party the services which my nomination seemed to imply, I visited
your good county and received at your hands a welcome so demon-
44 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
strati ve and cordial that I have always had a warm place In my
heart for your people. I was then almost a boy in years, and alto-
gether a boy in public life. Since then, in campaigns in which I
have had a personal interest, and in very many more wherein I
had only the general interest that you all had, it has been my
pleasure to visit your county, and I can testify to the earnest, intel-
ligent and devoted republicanism of Wabash County. You have
never faltered in any of the great struggles in which the party
has engaged ; and I believe you have followed your party from a
high conviction that the purposes it set before us involved the best
interests of the country that you love, and to which you owe the
duty of citizens. I know how generously you contributed to the
army when your sons were called to defend it ; and I know how,
since the war, you have endeavored to preserve and to conserve those
results which you fought for, and which made us again one peo-
ple, acknowledging, and I hope loving, one flag and one Constitu-
tion. [Applause.] I want to thank you personally for this visit,
and I wish now, if it is your pleasure, to meet you individually.
Benton County, Indiana, contributed the third delega-
tion of the day, led by H. S. Travis, Clark Cook, B. John-
son, Henry Taylor, Frank Knapp, and Robert L. Cox of
Fowler. They were presented by Col. A. D. Streight.
General Harrison said :
Colonel Streight, Felloiv-eitizens, and Comrades — I am very grate-
ful to you for this visit, and for the cordial terms in which your
spokesman has extended to me the congratulations of my friends
of Benton County We have men who boast that they are cosmo-
politans, citizens of the world. I prefer to say that I am an Amer-
ican citizen [applause], and I freely confess that American inter-
ests have the first place in my regard. [Applause.] This is not
at all inconsistent with the recognition of that comity between
nations which is necessary to the peace of the world. It is not
inconsistent with that philanthropy which sympathizes with
human distress and oppression the world around. We have been
especially favored as an apart nation, separated from the conflicts,
jealousies, and intrigues of European courts, with a territory
embracing every feature of climate and soil, and resources capable
of supplying the wants of our people, of developing a wholesome
and gigantic national growth, and of spreading abroad, by their
full establishment here, the principles of human liberty and free
government. I do 'not think it inconsistent with the philanthropy
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 45
of the broadest teacher of human love that we should first have
regard for that family of which we are a part. Here in Indiana
the drill has just disclosed to us the presence of inexhaustible quan-
tities, in a large area of our State, of that new fuel which has the
facility of doing its own transportation, even to the furnace door,
and which leaves no residuum to be carried away when it has done
its work. This discovery has added an impulse to our growth.
It has attracted manufacturing industries from other States. Many
of our towns have received, and this city, we may hope, is yet to
receive, a great impulse in the development of their manufactur-
ing industries by reason of this discovery. It seems to me that
when this fuller development of our manufacturing interests, this
building up of a home market for the products of our farms, which
is sure to produce here that which has been so obvious elsewhere
— a great increase in the value of farms and farm products— is
opening to us the pleasant prospect of a rapid growth in wealth,
we should be slow to abandon that system of protective duties
which looks to the promotion and development of American indus-
try and to the preservation of the highest possible scale of wages
for the American workman. [Applause.] The development of
our country must be on those lines that benefit all our people.
Any development that does not reach and beneficially affect all our
people is not to be desired, and cannot be progressive or permanent.
Comrades, you still love the flag for which we fought%. We are
preserved in God's providence to see the wondrous results of that
struggle in which you were engaged— a reunited country, a Consti-
tution whose authority is no longer disputed, a flag to which all
men bow. It has won respect at home ; it should be respected
by all nations of the earth as an emblem and representative of a
people desiring peace with all men, but resolute in the determination
that the rights of all our citizens the wrorld around shall be faith-
fully respected. [Applause and cries of "That's right!"] I thank
you again for this visit, and, if it be your pleasure, and your com-
mittee will so arrange, I will be glad to take you by the hand.
The fourth and largest delegation of the day came from
Boone County, numbering more than two thousand, led by
Captain Brown, S. S. Heath, A. L. Howard, W. H. H.
Martin, D. A. Rice, James Williamson, E. G. Darnell,
D. H. Olive, and Captain Arbigas of Lebanon, the last-
named veteran totally blind.
Another contingent was commanded by David 0, Mason,
46 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
J. O. Hurst, J. N. Harmon, and Mr. Denny, an octogen-
arian, all of Zionsville. Dr. D. C. Scull was orator for
the visitors. General Harrison said :
My Friends — The magnitude of this demonstration puts us at a
disadvantage in our purpose to entertain you hospitably, as \ve
had designed when notified of your coming. [Cheers.] I regret
that you must stand exposed to the heat of the sun, and that I
must be at the disadvantage of speaking from this high balcony
a few words of hearty thanks. I hope it may be arranged by the
committee so that I may yet have the opportunity of speaking to
you informally and individually. I am glad to notice your quick
interest in the campaign. I am sure that that interest is stimu-
lated by your devotion to the principles of government which you
conceive— rightly, as I believe — to be involved in this campaign.
[Applause.] I am glad to think that some of you, veterans of a
former political campaign to which your chairman has alluded,
and others of you, comrades in the great Avar for the Union, come
here to express some personal friendship for me. [Cheers.] But
I am sure that this campaign will be waged upon a plan altogether
above personal consideration. You are here as citizens of the State
of Indiana, proud of the great advancement the State has made
since those pioneer days when brave men from the East and South
entered our territory, blazing a pathway into the unbroken forest,
upon which civilization, intelligence, patriotism, and the love of
God has walked until we are conspicuous among the States as
a community desirous of social order, full of patriotic zeal, and
pledged to the promotion of that education which is to qualify the
coming generations to discharge honorably and well their duties
to the Government which we will leave in their hands. [Applause. ]
You are here also as citizens of the United States, proud of that
arch of strength that binds together the States of this Union in
one great Nation. But citizenship has its duties as well as its
privileges. The first is that'we give our energies and influence
to the enactment of just, equal, and beneficent laws. The second
is like unto it— that we loyally reverence and obey the will of the
majority enacted into law, whether we are ot a majority or not
[applause] ; the law throws the aegis of its protection over us all.
It stands sentinel about your country homes to protect you from
violence ; it comes into our more thickly populated community
and speaks its mandate for individual security and public order.
There is an open avenue through the ballot-box for the modifica-
tion or repeal of laws which are unjust or oppressive. To the law
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 47
we bow with reverence. It is the one king that commands our
allegiance. We will change our king, when his rule is oppressive,
by these methods appointed, and crown his more liberal successor.
[Applause.] I thank you again, most cordially, for this visit, and
put myself in the hands of your committee that I may have the
privilege of meeting you individually.
INDIANAPOLIS, JULY 13.
ONE thousand employees of the various railroads centre-
ing at Indianapolis, organized as a Harrison and Morton
Club — J. C. Finch, President, and A. D. Shaw, Marshal
of the occasion — called on General Harrison on the night
of July 13. Yardmaster Shaw was spokesman. General
Harrison replied :
Gentlemen — Your visit is very gratifying to me, and is full of
significance and interest. If I read aright the language of your
lanterns you have signalled the Republican train to go ahead.
[Applause and cries of "And she is going, too!"] You have con-
cluded that it is freighted with the interests and hopes of the
workingmen of America, and must have the right of way.
[Cheers and cries, "That's true!" and "We don't have to take
water on this trip, either !"] The train has been inspected ; you
have given it your skilled and intelligent approval ; the track has
been cleared and the switches spiked down. Have I read your sig-
nals aright? [Cheers and cries of "You have!" and "There's no
flat wheels under this train !"] You represent, I understand, every
department of railroad labor — the office, the train, the shop, the
yard, and the road. You are the responsible and intelligent agents
of a vast system that, from a rude and clumsy beginning, has
grown to be as fine and well adapted as the parts of the latest loco-
motive engine. The necessities and responsibilities of the business
of transportation have demanded a body of picked men — inventive
and skilful, faithful and courageous, sober and educated — and the
call has been answered, as your presence here to night demon-
strates. [Cheers. ] Heroism has been found at the throttle and
the brake, as well as on the battle-field, and as well worthy of song
and marble. The trainman crushed between the platforms, who
used his last breath, not for prayer or message of love, but to say
to the panic-stricken who gathered around him, "Put out the red
48 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
light for the other train," inscribed his name very high upon the
shaft where the names of the faithful and brave are written. [A
voice • " Give him three cheers for that !" Great and enthusiastic
cheering. ]
This early and very large gathering of Republican railroad men
suggests to me that you have opinions upon public questions
which are the product of your own observations and study. Some
one will say that the railroad business is a "non-protected indus-
try, " because it has to do with transportation and not with pro-
duction. But I only suggest what has already occurred to your
own minds when I say that is a very deceptive statement. You
know there is a relation between the wages of skilled and unskilled
labor as truly as between the prices of two grades of cotton cloth ;
that if the first is cut down, the other, too, must come down.
[Cries of "That's just so !"] You know, also, that if labor is thrown
out of one line or avenue, by so much the more will the others
be crowded ; that any policy that transfers production from the
American to the English or German shop works an injury to all
American workmen. [Great cheering. ]
But, if it could be shown that your wages were unaffected by our
system of protective duties, I am sure that your fellowship with
your fellow-toilers in other industries would lead you to desire, as
I do and always have, that our legislation may be of that sort that
will secure to them the highest possible prosperity [applause] —
wages that not only supply the necessities of life, but leave a sub-
stantial margin for comfort and for the savings bank. No man's
wages should be so low that he cannot make provision in his days
of vigor for the incapacity of accident or the feebleness of old age.
[Great cheering.]
I am glad to be assured to-nighfc that the principles of our party
and all things affecting its candidates can be safely left to the
thoughtful consideration of the American workingmen — they will
know the truth and accept it; they will reject the false and slan-
derous. [Applause. ]
And now let me say in conclusion that my door will always be
open to any of you who may desire to talk with me about anything
that interests you or that you think will interest me. I regret that
Mrs. Harrison is prevented by a temporary sickness from joining
with me in receiving you this evening. [Great cheering.]
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 49
INDIANAPOLIS, JULY 14.
A NOTABLE visit was that of two hundred and twenty
members of the Lincoln Club, one of the most influential
political organizations of Cincinnati. They were escorted
by the First Regiment Band and led by their President,
Hon. A. C. Horton, with Col. James I. Quiiiton, Marshal
of the day. Among other prominent members in line were
Col. Leo Markbreit, Senator Richardson, Dr. M. M. Eaton,
Hon. Fred Pfeister, W. E. Hutton, Samuel Baily, Jr.,
Albert Mitchell, H. M. Zeigler, B. O. M. De Beck, W. T.
Porter, Harry Probasco, John Ferinbatch, Geo. B. Fox, J.
E. Strubbe, Dr. S. V. Wiseman, Joseph H. Thornton,C. H.
Rockwell, Lewis Wesner and Col. Moore. Hon. Drusin
Wulsin, Vice- President of the club, was the orator. Gen-
eral Harrison, who had been ill for two days, replied :
Mr. Wulsin and Gentlemen of the Lincoln Club of Cincinnati —
I thank you very much for this visit, and I wish I found myself
in condition to talk to .you with comfort to-night. I cannot, how-
ever, let the occasion pass, in view of the kind terms in which
you have addressed me through your spokesman, without a word.
I feel as if these Hamilton County Republicans were my neigh-
bors. The associations of my early life were with that county,
and of my student life largely with the city of Cincinnati. You
did not need to state to me that Ohio supported John Sherman in
the convention at Chicago [laughter] simply to couple with it the
suggestion that it was a matter of State pride for you to do so.
I have known him long and intimately. It was my good fortune
for four years to sit beside him in the Senate of the United States.
I learned there to value him as a friend and to honor him as a
statesman. There were reasons altogether wider than the State of
Ohio why you should support John Sherman in the convention.
[Applause and cries of " Good !" " Good !"] His long and faithful
service to his country and to the Republican party, his distin-
guished ability, his fidelity as a citizen, all entitled him to your
faithful support; and I beg to assure you, as I have assured him
both before and since the convention, that I did not and would
not, upon any consideration, have made any attempt against him
upon the Ohio delegation. [Applause.] I have known of your
50 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
club as an organization that early set the example of perpetuating
itself — an example that I rejoice to see is being largely followed
now throughout our country. If these principles which are being
urged by our party in these contests are worthy of our campaign
enthusiasm and ardor, they are worthy to be thought of and advo-
cated in the period of inter- campaign. They affect the business
interests of our country, and their full adoption and perpetuation, ,
we believe, will bring prosperity to all our individual and social
and community interests. Therefore, I think it wise that in those
times, when men's minds are more open to conviction and are
readier of access, you should press upon the attention of your neigh-
bors through your club organizations these principles to which you
and I have given the allegiance of our minds and the devotion of
our hearts. I thank you again for this visit. We are glad that
you have come ; therefore, I welcome you, not only as Republicans,
but as friends. [Applause.]
INDIANAPOLIS, JULY 18.
HOWARD COUNTY sent a delegation of six hundred citi-
zens this day, led by Major A. N. Grant. The Lincoln
League Club of Kokomo was commanded by its Presi-
dent, John E. Moore. Other prominent citizens in the
delegation were Hon. J. N. Loop, J. A. Kautz, J. E. Vaile,
John Ingalls, W. E. Blackledge, B. B. Johnson, J. B. Lan-
den, Dr. James Wright, H. E. McMonigal, Edward
Klum, Charles Pickett, and A. R. Ellis. Rev. Father Ray-
burn, a voter in the campaign of 1840, was spokesman.
General Harrison, in reply, said :
Father Raybum and my Howard County Friends — I think I may
accept this demonstration as evidence that the action of the Re-
publican convention at Chicago has been accepted with resigna-
tion by the Republicans of Howard County. [Loud cheers.] You
are the favored citizens of a favored county. Your county has
been conspicuous among the counties of this State for its enter-
prise and intelligence. You have been favored with a kindly and
generous soil, cultivated by an intelligent and educated class of
farmers. Hitherto you have chiefly drawn your wealth from the
soil. You have had in the city of Kokomo an enterprising and
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 51
thrifty county town. You have been conspicuous for your interest
and devotion to the cause of education— for your interest in bring-
ing forward the coming generations well equipped for the duties
of citizenship. I congratulate you to-day that a new era of pros-
perity has opened for your county in the discovery of this new
and free fuel to which Mr. Rayburn has alluded. A source of great
wealth has been opened to your people. You have already begun
to realize what it is to your county, though your expectations
have hardly grasped what it will be when the city of Kokomo and
your other towns have reached the full development which will
follow this discovery. You will then all realize — the citizens of
that prosperous place as well as the farmers throughout the county
— the advantage of having a home market for the products of your
farms. [Cheers.] You may not notice this so much in the appre-
ciation of the prices of the staple products of your farms, but you
will notice it in the expansion of the market for those more per-
ishable products which cannot reach a distant market and must
be consumed near home. Is it not, then, time for you, as thought-
ful citizens, whatever your previous political affiliations may have
been, to consider the question, "What legislation will most pro-
mote the development of the manufacturing interests of your
county and enlarge the home market for the products of your
farm?" I shall not enter upon a discussion of this question; it is
enough to state it, and leave it to your own intelligent considera-
tion. [Cheers. ]
Let me thank you again for this kindly visit, and beg you to
excuse any more extended remarks, and to give me now an oppor-
tunity of thanking each of you personally for the kind things
your chairman has said in your behalf.
INDIANAPOLIS, JULY 19.
ILLINOIS sent three large delegations this date from
Springfield, Jacksonville and Monticello. Conspicuous in
the column was the famous " Black Eagle " CluB of Spring-
field, led by its President, Sam H. Jones, and the Lincoln
Club, commanded by Capt. John C. Cook
In the Springfield delegation were twenty-one original
Whigs who voted for Gen. Wm. Henry Harrison, among
them Jeriah Bonham, who wrote the first editorial — Nov.
52 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
8, 1858 — proposing the candidacy of Abraham Lincoln
for President. Others among the prominent visitors from
Springfield were: Col. James T. King, C. A. Vaughan,
Major James A. Connelly, Paul Selby, Hon. David T.
Littler, Jacob Wheeler, Gen. Charles W. Pavey, Robert
J. Oglesby, Ira Knight, C. P. Baldwin, James H. Kellogg,
Alexander Smith, Geo. Jameson, Augustus C. Avers,
Jacob Strong, Dr. F. C. Winslow, Fred Smith, Charles T.
Hawks, Hon. Henry Dement, Col. Theo. Ewert, Jacob
Bunn, J. C. Matthews, J. R. Stewart, H. W. Beecher,
Andrew J. Lester, Dr. Gurney, and Howes Yates, brother
of the great war Governor.
The Jacksonville visitors were represented by Hon. Fred
H. Rowe, ex-Mayor Tomlinson, Judge T. B. Orear, J. B.
Stevenson, Dr. Goodrich, Professor Parr of Illinois College,
J. W. Davenport, and Thomas Rapp.
Attorney-General Hunt spoke on behalf of all the vis-
itors. General Harrison's reply was one of his happiest
speeches. He said :
General Hunt and my Illinois Friends — I thank you for this cor-
dial expression of your interest in Republican success. I thank
you for the kindly terms in which your spokesman has conveyed
to me the assurance, not only of your political support, but of
your personal confidence and respect.
The States of Indiana and Illinois are neighbors, geographically.
The river that for a portion of its length constitutes the boundary
between our States is not a river of division. Its tendency seems
to be, in these times when so many things are "going dry"
[cheers], rather to obliterate than to enlarge the obstruction
between us. [Cheers. ] But I rejoice to know that we are not
only geographically neighbors, but that Indiana and Illinois have
been neighborly in the high sentiments and purposes which have
characterized their people. I rejoice to know that the same high
spirit of loyalty and devotion to the country that characterized the
State of Illinois in the time when the Nation made its appeal to
the brave men of all the States to rescue its flag and its Constitu-
tion from the insurrection which had been raised against them
was equally characteristic of Indiana — that the same great impulse
swept over your State that swept over ours— that Richard Yutes
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 53
of Illinois [cheers] and Oliver P. Morton of Indiana [prolonged
cheers] stood together in the fullest sympathy and co-operation in
the great plans they devised to augment and re -enforce the Union
armies in the field and to suppress and put down treasonable con-
spiracies at home.
As Americans and as Republicans we are glad that Illinois has
contributed so many and such conspicuous names to that galaxy
of great Americans and great Republicans whose deeds have been
\vritten on the scroll of eternal fame. I recall that it was on the
soil of Illinois that Lovejoy died — a martyr to free speech. [Cries
of "Hear!" "Hear!"] He was the forerunner of Abraham Lin-
coln. He died, but his protest against human slavery lived.
Another great epoch in the march of liberty found on the soil of
Illinois the theatre of its most influential event. I refer to that
high debate in the presence of your people, but before the world,
in which Douglas won the senatorship and Lincoln the presidency
and immortal fame. [Loud cheers.]
But Lincoln's argument and Lincoln's proclamation must be
made good upon the battle-field— and again your State was con-
spicuous. You gave us Grant and Logan [prolonged cheers] and
a multitude of less notable, but not less faithful, soldiers who
underwrote the proclamation with their swords. [Cheers.] I
congratulate you to-day that there has come out of this early agi-
tation— out of the work of Lovejoy, the disturber ; out of the great
debate of 1858, and out of the war for the Union, a Nation with-
out a slave [cheers] — that not the shackles of slavery only have been
broken, but that the scarcely less cruel shackles, of prejudice which
bound every black man in the North have also been unbound.
We are glad to know that the enlightened sentiment of the
South to-day unites with us in our congratulations that slavery
has been abolished. They have come to realize, and many of their
best and greatest men to publicly express, the thought that the aboli-
tion of slavery has opened a gateway of progress and material de-
velopment to the South that was forever closed against her people
while domestic slavery existed.
We send them the assurance that we desire the streams of their
prosperity shall flow bank full. We would lay upon their people
no burdens that we do not willingly bear ourselves. They will not
think it amiss if I say that the burden which rests willingly upon
our shoulders is a faithful obedience to the Constitution and the
laws. A manly assertion by each of his individual rights, and a
manly concession of equal right to every other man, is the boast
and the law of good citizenship.
54 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
Let me thank you again and ask you to excuse me from further
public speech. I now ask an opportunity to meet my Illinois
friends personally [Loud and prolonged cheers. ]
The second speech of the day was delivered at 9 o'clock
at night to an enthusiastic delegation of fifteen hundred
Republicans from Shelbyville, Shelby County, led by Hon.
H. C Gordon, J. Walter Elliott, C. H. Campbell, James
T. Caughey, C. X. Matthews, J. Richey, E. S. Powell,
E. E. Elliott, L. S. Limpus, Orland Young, and Norris
Winterowd. Judge J. C. Adams was their spokesman.
General Harrison touched upon civil service ; he said :
Judge Adams and my Shelby County Friends — This is only a
new evidence of your old friendliness. My association with the
Republicans of Shelby County began in 1855, when I was a very
young man and a still younger politician. In that year, if I
recollect right, I canvassed every township of your county in the
interest of Mr. Campbell, who was then a candidate for County
Clerk. Since then I have frequently visited your county, and have
always been received with the most demonstrative evidence of your
friendship. But in addition to these political associations, which
have given me an opportunity to observe and to admire the stead-
fastness, the courage, the unflinching faithfulness of the Repub-
licans of Shelby County [cheers], I have another association with
your county, which I cherish with great tenderness and affection.
Two companies of 'the Seventieth Indiana were made up of your
brave boys : Company B, commanded by Captain Sleeth, and Com-
pany F, commanded by Captain Endsley, who still lives among
you. [Cheers.] Many of the surviving members of these com-
panies still dwell among you. Many others are in the far West,
and they, too, from their distant homes have sent me a comrade's
y. greeting. I recollect a little story of Peach Tree Creek that may
interest you. When the Seventieth Indiana, then under command
of Col. Sam Merrill, swung up from the reserve into the front line
to meet the enemy's charge, the adjutant -general of the brigade,
who had been directed to order the advance, reported that the left of
the Seventieth Indiana was exposed. He said he had ordered the
bluff old captain of Company F, who was commanding the left
wing, to reserve his left in order to cover his flank, but that the
old hickory had answered him with an expletive — which I have no
doubt he has repented of — that he " could not see it, " that he proposed
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. ^
that his end of the regiment should get to the top of that hill aa
quick as the other end. [Prolonged cheers.]
We will venerate the memory of the dead of these companies and
their associate companies in other commands who gave up their
lives in defence of the flag.
But I turn aside from these matters of personal recollection to
say a word of more general concern. We are now at the opening
of a presidential campaign, and I beg to suggest to you, as citi-
zens of the State of Indiana, that there is always in such campaigns
a clanger to be avoided, viz. • That the citizen may overlook the
important local and State interests which are also involved in the
campaign. I beg, therefore, to suggest that you turn your minds
not only to the consideration of the questions connected with the
national legislation and national administration, but that you
think deeply and well of those things that concern our local affairs.
There are some such now presented to you that have to do with the
honor and prosperity of the State.
There are some questions that ought not to divide parties, but
upon which all good men ought to agree. I speak of only one.
The great benevolent institutions — the fruit of our Christian civil-
ization—endowed by the bounty of the State, maintained by pub-
lic taxes, and intended for the care and education of the disabled
classes of our community, ought to be lifted above all party in-
fluences, benefit or control. [Cheers.] I believe you can do noth-
ing that will more greatly enhance the estimation in which the
State of Indiana is held by her sister States than to see to it that a
suitable, well-regulated, and strict civil service is provided for the
administration of the benevolent and penal institutions of the State
of Indiana. I will not talk longer ; I thank you for this magnifi-
cent evidence that I am still held in kindly regard by the Repub-
licans of Shelby County, and bid you good-night. [Cheers.]
INDIANAPOLIS, JULY 24.
ON the twenty-fourth of July Champaign County, Illi-
nois, contributed a large delegation under the direction of
Hon. F. K. Robeson, Z. Riley, H. W. Mahan, and W. M.
Whindley. Their parade was conspicuous for the number
of log-cabins, cider-barrels, coons, eagles, and other cam-
paign emblems.
Prominent members of the delegation were Rev. I. S.
5G HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
Mahan, H. M. Dunlap, F. M. McKay, J. J. McClain, James
Barnes, Rev. John Henry, H. S. Clark, M. S. Goodrich, A.
W. McNichols, Capt. J. H. Sands and three veterans of
1830, the Rev. S. K. Reed, Stephen Freeman, and W. B.
Downing. Hon. Frank M. Wright delivered the address
on behalf of the visitors. General Harrison responded :
My Friends — I feel very conscious of the compliment which is
conveyed by your presence here to day. You come as citizens of an
adjoining State to manifest, as your spokesman has said, some per
sonal respect for me, but much more, I think — your interest in the
pending contention of principles before the people of the United
States. It is fortunate that you are allowed, not only to express
your interest by such popular gatherings as these, but that you
will be called upon individually, after the* debate is over, to settle
this contention by your ballots. An American political canvass,
when wre look through the noise and tinsel that accompanies it,
presents a scene of profound interest to the student of government.
The theory upon which our Government is builded is that every
qualified elector shall have an equal influence at the ballot box with
every other. Our Constitutions do not recognize fractional votes ;
they do not recognize the right of one man to count one and a half
in the determination of public questions. It is wisely provided
that whatever differences may exist in intelligence, in wealth, or
in any other respect, at the ballot box there shall be absolute
equality. No interest can be truly subserved, whether local or
general, by any invasion of this great principle. The wise work
of our fathers in constructing this Government will stand all tests
of internal dissension and 'revolution, and all tests of external as-
sault, if we can only preserve a pure, free ballot. [Applause. ]
Every citizen who is a patriot ought to lend his influence to that
end, by promoting necessary reforms in our election laws and by
a watchful supervision of the processes of pur popular elections.
We ought to elevate in thought and practice the free suffrage that
we enjoy. As long as it shall be held by our people to be the jewel
above price, as long as each for himself shall claim its free exercise
and shall generously and manfully insist upon an equally free ex
ercise of it by every other man, our Government will be preserved
and our development will not find its climax until the purpose of
God in establishing this Government shall have spread throughout
the world— governments " of the people, by the people, and for the
people. " [Cheers. ]
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 57
You will not expect, nor would it be proper, that I should follow
the line of your spokesman's remarks, or even allude to some things
that he has alluded to ; but I will not close without one word of
compliment and comradeship for the soldiers of Illinois. [Applause. ]
I do not forget that many of them, like Logan — that fearless and
first of volunteer soldiers — at the beginning of the war were not
in sympathy with the Republican national administration. You
had a multitude of soldiers besides Logan, one of whom has been
immortalized in poetry— Sergeant Tillman Joy — who put their
politics by " to keep till the war was through ; " and many, I may
add, like Logan, when they got home found new party associa-
tions. But we do not limit our praise of the loyalty and faithful-
ness of your soldiers to any party lines, for we realize that there
were good soldiers who did resume their ante -war politics when
they came back from the army. To such we extend a comrade's
hand always, and the free and untrammelled exercise of his polit-
ical choice shall not bar our comradeship. It happened during the
war that three Illinois regiments were for some time under my
command I had opportunity to observe their perfection in drill,
their orderly administration of camp duties, and, above all, the
brilliant courage with which they met the enemy. And, in compli-
menting them, I take them as the type of that great army that Illi-
nois sent out for the preservation of the Union and the Constitution.
Let me thank you again for your friendly visit to-day ; and if any
of you desire a nearer acquaintance, I shall be glad to make that
acquaintance now.
INDIANAPOLIS, JULY 25.
Two thousand visitors from Edgar and Coles counties,
Illinois, paid their respects to the Republican nominee
this day.
The excursion was under the auspices of the John A.
Logan Club of Paris, Charles P. Fitch, President. There
were many farmers in the delegation, also eighty-two
veterans of the campaign of 1840, and the watchwords of
the day were "Old Tippecanoe and young Tippecanoe."
The reception took place at University Park, notable from
this time forward for many similar events. Prominent
among the visitors were Geo. F. Howard, Capt. F. M. Rude,
58 HARRISONS SPEECHES.
J.W. Howell, E. R. Lodge, Capt. J. C. Bessier, M. Hackett,
James Stewart, and Mayor J. M. Bell of Paris ; C. G. Peck
and J. H. Clark of Mattoon ; and Hon. John W. Custor of
Benton. State Senator George E. Bacon delivered the
congratulatory address. General Harrison replied :
Senator Bacon and my Illinois Friends — Some of my home
friends have been concerned lest I should be worn out by the fre-
quent coming of these delegations. I am satisfied from what I see
before me to-day that the rest of Illinois is here [laughter], and the
concern of my friends will no longer be excited by the coming of
Illinois delegations. [A voice, "We are all here!"] That you
should leave the pursuits of your daily life — the farm, the office, and
the shop — to make this journey gives me the most satisfactory evi-
dence that your hearts are enlisted in this campaign. I am glad
to welcome here to-day the John A. Logan Club of Paris. You
have chosen a name that you will not need to drop, whatever
mutations may come in politics, so long as there shall be a party
devoted to the flag and to the Constitution, and pledged to preserve
the memories of the great deeds of those who died that the Consti-
tution might be preserved and the flag honored. [Applause.]
General Logan was indeed, as your spokesman has said, " the typ-
ical volunteer soldier. " With him loyalty was not a sentiment ; it
was a passion that possessed his whole nature.
When the civil war broke out no one did more than he to solidify
the North in defence of the Government. He it was who said that
all parties and all platforms must be subordinated to the defence of
the Government against unprovoked assault. [A voice, "That's
just what he said !"] In the war with Mexico, as a member of the
First Illinois Regiment, and afterwards as the commander of the
Thirty-first Illinois in the civil war, he gave a conspicuous ex-
ample of what an untrained citizen could do in the time of public
peril. In the early fight at Donelson he, with the First Illinois
Brigade, successfully resisted the desperate assaults that were made
upon his line ; twice wounded, he yet refused to leave the field.
The courage of that gallant brigade called forth from a Massachu-
setts poet the familiar lines :
"Thy proudest mother's eyelids fill.
As dares her gallant boy,
And Plymouth Rock and Bunker Hill
Yearn to thee, Illinois."
[Applause.] He commanded successively brigades, divisions, corps
and armies, and fought them with unvarying success. I greet these
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 59
veterans of the campaign of 1840. You recall the pioneer days, the
log cabin days of the West, the days when muddy highways were
the only avenues of travel and commerce. You have seen a mar-
vellous development. The State of your adoption has become a
mighty commonwealth ; you have seen it crossed and recrossed by
railroads, bringing all your farms into easy communication with
distant markets ; you have seen the schoolhouse and church brought
into every neighborhood ; you have seen this country rocked in the
cradle of war ; you have seen it emerge from that dreadful trial
and enter upon an era of prosperity that seems to surpass all that
had gone before.
To these young men who will, for the first time this year, take
part as citizens in determining a presidential election, I suggest
that you have become members of a party of precious memories.
There has been nothing in the history of the Republican party,
nothing in the platform of principles that it has proclaimed, that
is not calculated to stir the high impulses of your young hearts.
The Republican party has walked upon high paths. It has set be-
fore it ever the maintenance of the Union, the honor of its flag,
and the prosperity of our people. It has been an American party
[great cheering] in that it has set American interests always to
the front.
My friends of the colored organization, I greet you as Republi-
cans to-day. I recall the time when you were disfranchised ; when
your race were slaves ; when the doors of our institutions of learn-
ing were closed against you, and even admittance to many of our
Northern States was denied you. You have read the story of your
disfranchisement, of the restoration to you of the common rights
of men. Read it again ; read the story of the bitter and bigoted
opposition that every statute and constitutional amendment framed
for your benefit encountered. What party befriended you when
you needed friends? What party has stood always as an obstruc-
tion to the development and enlargement of your rights as citizens?
When you have studied these questions well you will be able to
determine not only where your gratitude is due, but where the
hopes of your race lie. [Cheers. ]
60 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
INDIANAPOLIS, JULY 26.
FROM Clay County, Indiana, came three thousand coal-
miners and others, this day, under the auspices of the
Harrison Miners' Club of Brazil. Their parade, with
dozens of unique banners and devices, was one of the most
imposing of the campaign. Prominent in the delegation
were Dr. Joseph C. Gifford, L. A. Wolfe, Jacob Herr, P.
H. Penna, John F. Perry, C. P. Eppert, E. C. CaUihan, W.
H. Lowery, Rev. John Cox, A. F. Bridges, William Sporr,
Carl Thomas, Geo. F. Fuller, John Gibbons, Sam'l Blair,
Thomas Washington, and Judge Coffey of Brazil. Major
William Carter and Edward Wilton, a miner, delivered
addresses ; Rob't L. McCowan spoke for the colored mem-
bers of the delegation. General Harrison, in response, said :
Gentlemen and Friends from Clay County — I thank you for this
enthusiastic demonstration of your interest. I am glad to be as-
sured by those who have spoken for you to day that you have
brought here, and desire to evidence, some personal respect for
me ; but this demonstration has relation, I am sure, rather to prin-
ciples than to men. You come as representatives of the diversified
interests of your county. You are fortunate in already possessing
diversified industries. You have not only agriculture, but the
mine and factory which provide a home market for the products
of your farms. You come here, as I understand, from all these
pursuits, to declare that in your opinion your interests, as farmers,
as miners, as mechanics, as tradesmen, are identified with the
maintenance of the doctrine of protection to American industries,
and the preservation of the American market for American prod-
ucts. [Cheers.] Some resort to statistics to show that the con-
dition of the American workman is better than that of the work-
man of any other country. I do not care now to deal with statistics.
One fact is enougli for me. The tide of emigration from all Euro-
pean countries has been and is towards our slwres. The gates of
Castle Garden swing inward. They do not swing outward to any
American laborer seeking a better country than this. [Cries of
" Never ! "]
My countrymen, these men, who have toiled at wages in other
lands that barely sustained life, and opened no avenue of promise
to them or to their children, know the good land of hope as well as
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. Gl
the swallow knows the land of summer. [Applause. J They testify
that here there are better conditions, wider and more hopeful pros-
pects for workmen than in any other land. The next suggestion
I have to make is this . that the more work there is to do in this
country the higher the wages that will be paid for the doing of it.
[Applause. ] I speak to men who know that when the product of
their toil is in demand in the market, when buyers are seeking it,
wages advance ; but when the market for your products is depressed,
and the manufacturer is begging for buyers, then wages go down.
Is it not clear, then, that that policy which secures the largest
amount of work to be done at home is the policy which will secure
to laboring men steady employment and the best wages? [Cheers
and cries of "That is right !"] A policy which will transfer work
from our mines and our factories to foreign mines and foreign
factories inevitably tends to the depression of wages here. [Ap-
plause and cries of "That i& true!"] These are truths that do
not require profound study.
Having here a land that throws about the workingman social
and political conditions more favorable than are found elsewhere,
if we can preserve also more favorable industrial conditions we
shall secure the highest interests of our working classes. [Great
cheering.] What, after all, is the best evidence of a nation's pros-
perity, and the best guarantee of social order, if it is not an
intelligent, thrifty, contented working class? Can we look for
contentment if the workman is only able to supply his daily neces-
sities by his daily toil, but is not able in the vigor of youth to lay
up a store against old age? A condition of things that compels
the laborer to contemplate want, as an incident of sickness or dis-
ability, is one that tends to social disorder. [Applause and cries
of "That is so!"] You are called upon now to consider these
problems. I will not debate them in detail , others will. I can
only commend them to your thoughtful consideration. Think upon,
them ; conclude for yourselves what policy as to our tariff legisla-
tion will best subserve your interests, the interests of your families,
and the greatness and glory of the Nation of which you are citi-
zens. [Cheers. ]
My colored friends who are here to-day, the emancipation of the
slave removed from our country that which tended to degrade labor.
All men are now free ; you are thrown upon your own resources ;
the avenues of intelligence and of business success are open to all.
I notice that the party to which we belong has been recently re-
proached by the suggestion that we have not thoroughly protected
the colored man in the South. This has been urged as a reason
62 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
why the colored people should join the Democratic party. I beg
the gentlemen who urge that plea to answer this question Against
whom is it that the Republican party has been unable, as you say,
to protect your race? [Applause and cries of "Good! Good!"]
Thanking you again for this demonstration and for your friendly
expressions, I will, if it be your pleasure, drop this formal method
of communication and take my Clay County friends by the hand.
[Great cheering, j
The Clay County miners had not concluded their recep-
tion before a delegation of several hundred arrived from
Bloomington, Illinois, headed by the John A. Logan Club,
under the lead of General Geo. F. Dick, "W illiam Maddox,
John A. Fullwiller, M. B. Herr, and Dr. F. C. Vandervoort.
Their orator was Dr. W. H. H. Adams, formerly Presi-
dent of the Illinois Wesleyan University. General Har-
rison, replying, said:
My Bloomington Friends — When I received here, yesterday, a
very large delegation from Illinois, I expressed the opinion that they
must be the "rest of the people of Illinois that had not been here be-
fore. " I suppose you are a remnant that could not get into line yester-
day. I thank you as I have thanked those who preceded you, for the
interest which the people of your State have manifested, and for your
cordial fellowship with Indiana. I will not discuss the issues of the
campaign. You have already thought upon the platforms of the
two parties. Some of you have perhaps taken your politics by in-
heritance. It is now a good time to review the situation. We
have the same interests as citizens. Let us all consider the history
and declarations of the great parties and thoughtfully conclude
which is more likely to promote the general interests of our people.
That is the test. The British I arliament does not legislate with a
view to advance the interests of the people of the United States.
[Cries of "No, never !"] They — rightly — have in view the interest
of that empire over which Victoria reigns. Should we not, also,
as Americans, in our legislation, consider first the interests of our
people? We invite the thoughtful attention of those who have
hitherto differed with us as to these questions. Our interests are
bound together. That which promotes the prosperitjr of the com-
munity in which you dwell in kindly association with your Demo-
cratic friends promotes your interests and theirs alike. Thanking
you for this visit, I will ask you to excuse me from further speech.
[Applause. J
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 63
INDIANAPOLIS, JULY 27.
KOSCIUSKO COUNTY, Indiana, contributed two thousand
visitors on the twenty-seventh of July, under the leadership
of Capt. C. W. Chapman, James H. Cisney, Reub. Will-
iams, Louis Ripple, J. E Stevenson, Wm. B. Wood, T.
Loveday, John Wynant, Charles Adams, Nelson Richhart,
Captain A. S. Miller, Clinton Lowe, P. L. Runyon, James
A. Cook, Frank McGee, and John Burbaker, all of War-
saw. Judge H. S. Biggs made the presentation address.
General Harrison replied as follows :
Mr. Biggs and my Koscinsko County Friends — I did not need to
be assured of the friendliness of the Republicans of your county.
It has been evidenced too many times in the past. Before the
convention at Chicago the Republicans of your county gave me the
assurance that my nomination would meet the cordial approbation
of your people I am glad to welcome you here to day, and regret
that your journey hither has been so tedious. You are proud of
the State in which you dwell ; proud of her institutions of learn-
ing ; proud of her great benevolent institutions, which I notice by
one of these banners you have pledged yourselves to protect from
party spoliation and degradation. [Applause and cries of "Good !
Good!"] But while we have much that is cause for congratulation,
we are not enjoying that full equality of civil rights in the State of
Indiana to which we are entitled.
Our Government is a representative government Delegates in
Congress and members of our State Senate and House of Represent-
atives are apportioned to districts , and the National and State Con-
stitutions contemplate that these districts shall be equal, so that, as
far as possible, each citizen shall have, in his district, the same po-
tency in choosing a Member of Congress or of our State Legislature
as is exercised by a voter in any other district. We do not to-day
have that condition of things. The apportionment of our State for
legislative and congressional purposes is unfair, and is known to be
unfair to all men. No candid Democrat can defend it as a fair
apportionment It was framed to be unequal , it was designed to
give to the citizens of favored districts an undue influence. It was
intended to discriminate against Republicans. It is not right that
it should be so I hope the time is coming, and has even now
arrived, when the great sense of justice which possesses our people
64 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
will teach men of all parties that party success is not to be pro-
moted at the expense of an injustice to any of our citizens. [Ap-
plause.] These things take hold of government. If we would
maintain that respect for the law which is necessary to social order,
our people must understand that each voter lias his full and equal
influence in determining what the law shall be. I hope this ques-
tion will not be forgotten by our people until we have secured in
Indiana a fair apportionment for legislative and congressional pur-
poses. [Cheers. ] When the Republicans shall secure the power of
making an apportionment, I hope and believe that the experiment
of seeking a party advantage by a public injustice will not be
repeated. [Great applause and cries of "Good ! Good !"]
There are some other questions affecting suffrage, too, to which
my attention has, from circumstances, been particularly attracted.
There are in the Northwest several Territories organized under
public law with defined boundaries. They have been filled up with
the elect of our citizens — the brave, the enterprising and intelligent
young men from all the States. Many of the veterans of the late
war have sought under our beneficent homestead law new homes
in the West. Several of these Territories have been for years pos-
sessed of population, wealth, and all the requisites for admission
as States. When the Territory of Indiana took the census which
was the basis for its petition for admission to the Union we had
less than 64, 000 people ? we had only thirteen organized counties.
In the Territory of South Dakota there are nearly half a million
people. For years they have been knocking for admission to the
sisterhood of States.
They are possessed of all the elements of an organized and stable
community. It has more people, more miles of railroad, more post-
offices, more churches, more banks, more wealth, than any Territory
ever possessed when it was admitted to the Union. It surpasses
some of the States in these particulars. Four years ago, when a
President was to be chosen, the Committee on Territories in the
Senate, to meet the objection of our Democratic friends that the
admission of Dakota would add a disturbing element to the Elec-
toral College, provided in the Dakota bill that its organization
should be postponed until after the election ; now four years more
have rolled around, and our people are called again to take part
in a presidential election, and the intelligent and patriotic Dakota
people are again to be deprived of any participation. I ask you
why this is so? Is not the answer obvious? [Cries of "Yes!"]
They are disfranchised and deprived of their appropriate influence
in the Electoral College only because the prevailing sentiment in
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 65
the Territory is Republican. [Cries of "That's right!" "That's the
reason !"] The cause of Washington Territory is more recent but
no less flagrant. If we appropriately express sympathy with the
cause of Irish home rule, shall we not also demand home rule for
Dakota and Washington, and insist that their disfranchisement
shall not be prolonged? [Applause.] There is a sense of justice, of
fairness, that will assert itself against these attempts to coin party
advantage out of public wrong. The day when men can be dis-
franchised or shorn of their political power for opinion's sake must
have an end in our country. [Cheers. ] I thank you again for
your call, and if you will observe the arrangement which has been
suggested I will be glad to take each of you by the hand. I know
that some of you are fasting, and therefore we will shorten these
exercises in order that you may obtain needed refreshments.
[Cheers.]
INDIANAPOLIS, JULY 28.
JENNINGS COUNTY, Indiana, was represented on the
above date by a large delegation under the auspices of the
Harrison and Morton Clubs of Vernon and North Yernon.
The leaders of their delegation were Fred H. Nauer, J.
C. Cope, C. E. Wagner, W. G. Norris, Dr. T. C. Bachelder,
T. A. Pearce, P. C. McGannon, and Prof. Amos Saunders.
Hon. Frank E. Little, President of the North Yernon
Club, delivered the address. General Harrison, in re-
sponse, said:
My Friends — It is a source of regret to me that I can do so little
to compensate those who take the trouble to visit me. I need
hardly say to you that I very highly appreciate this evidence of
your friendliness and also the kind words which you have addressed
to me through your representative. Jennings County has a history
of which it may well be proud. It has contributed to the city of
Indianapolis some of our most distinguished and useful men.
Your spokesman has not exaggerated the fidelity and steadfastness
of the people of your county. Your republicanism has been as
straight as the walls of your cliffs [applause] and as solid as the
limestone with which your hills are buttressed. [Applause. ]
You have said to me that you are in favor of a free and equal
ballot the country over. We are so related in our Government
5
66 HARRISON S SPEECHES.
that any disturbance of the suffrage anywhere directly affects us
all Our Members of Congress pass upon questions that are as wide
as the domain over which our flag floats. Therefore, our interest
in the choice of these representatives is not limited to our own
districts. If the debate upon public questions is to be of value
the voter must be free to register his conclusion. The tribunal
which is to pronounce upon the argument must not be coerced.
You have said to me that you favor the doctrine of protection.
The Republican party stands for the principles of protection. We
believe in the preservation of the American market for our Amer-
ican producers and workmen. [Applause and cries of " That's it !"]
We believe that the development of home manufactures tends
directly to promote the interest of agriculture by furnishing a
home market for the products of the farm, and thus emancipating
our farmers from the transportation charges which they must pay
when their products seek distant markets. [Applause.]
W"e are confronted now with a Treasury surplus. Our position
is exceptional. We are not seeking, as many other nations are,
new subjects of taxation, new sources of revenue. Our quest is
now how, wisely, to reduce our national revenue. The attempt
has been made to use this surplus as a lever to overturn the protec-
tive system. The promoters of this scheme, while professing a
desire to diminish the surplus, have acted as if their purpose was
to increase it in part by opposing necessary and legitimate appro-
priations. I agree that there is danger that a surplus may promote
extravagance, but I do not find myself in sympathy with that
policy that denies the appropriation necessary for the proper de-
fence of our people, and for the convenient administration of our
public affairs throughout the country, in order that the threat of a
surplus may be used for a sinister purpose. I believe that in re-
ducing our revenues to the level of our needful and proper expen-
ditures we can and should continue to favor and protect our
industries. I do not like to entrust this work to those who declare
protective duties to be vicious " legalized robbery. " The Republican
party has by its legislation shown its capacity wisely to reduce our
revenues and at the same time to preserve the American system.
[Applause. ] It can be trusted to do the work that remains, and to
do it wisely. [Applause.]
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 67
INDIANAPOLIS, JULY 31.
THE last delegation in July came from Henry County,
Indiana, two thousand strong, headed by C. S. Hernley,
W. H. Elliott, Hon. Eugene Bundy, Judge Mark E. Fork-
ner, A. Abernathy, A. D. Osborn, O. P. M. Hubbard, David
Luellen, O. B. Mooney, and Captain Armstrong, all of
New Castle. Gen. William H. Grose was their orator.
In his response General Harrison at this early day out-
lined his views upon reciprocal trade relations with South
American nations — views which were afterwards success-
fully, and with great profit to our people, put into effect
through the celebrated reciprocity treaties with Brazil,
Venezuela and other countries.
Repeated outbursts of enthusiasm punctured his address.
He said :
Comrade Grose and my Henry County Friends — If \ve have here
any discouraged statesman who takes a despondent view of the
future of the country, I think he would recover his hopefulness if
he could look, once in awhile, into the face of an audience like this.
[Applause. ]
You came from a county that has been a bulwark of republi-
canism since the party was organized. You had an early element
in your population that has done much to promote your material
interests, and, much more, to lift up those principles that relate
to the purity of the home and to the freedom of men. The Friends,
who have been and are so large and so influential an element in
your population and in the counties surrounding it, are a people
notable for the purity of their home life and for their broad and
loving sympathy with all men. They were the early enemies of
slavery, and they have always naturally been the strength of the
Republican party in the community where they reside. Your
spokesman has expressed your continued interest in the party to
which some of you gave the confidence of your matured powers
and some of you the early devotion of your youth. The Repub-
lican party has accomplished for the country a great work in the
brief period of its life. It preserved the Nation by a wise, cour-
ageous and patriotic administration. What that means for you
and your posterity, what it means for the world, no man can tell.
fi8 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
It would have been a climax of disaster for the world if this Gov-
ernment of the people had perished. The one unsolved experiment
of free government was solved. We have demonstrated the ca-
pacity of the people and a citizen soldiery to maintain inviolate
the unity of the Republic. [Applause. ]
There remain now, fortunately, chiefly economic questions to
be thought of and to be settled. We refer to the great war, not
in any spirit of hostility to any section or any class of men, but
only because we believe it to be good for the whole country that
loyalty and fidelity to the flag should be honored. [Great applause. ]
It was one of the great triumphs of the war, a particular in
which our war was distinguished from all other wars of history,
that we brought the vanquished into the same full, equal citizenship
under the law that we maintained for ourselves.
In all the addresses which have been made to me there has been
some reference to the great question of the protection of our Ameri-
can industries. I see it upon the banners which you carry. Our
party stands unequivocally, without evasion or qualification, for
the doctrine that the American market shall be preserved for our
American producers. [Great applause. ] We are not attracted by
the suggestion that we should surrender to foreign producers the
best market in the world. Our sixty millions of people are the best
buyers in the world, and they are such because our working classes
receive the best wages. But we do not mean to be content with our
own market. We should seek to promote closer and more friendly
commercial relations with the Central and South American States.
[Applause.] And what is essential to that end? Regular mails
are the first condition of commerce.
The merchant must know when his order will be received, and
when his consignment will be returned, or there can be no trade
between distant communities. What we need, therefore, is the
establishment of American steamship lines between our ports and
the ports of Central and South America. [Applause.] Then it
will no longer be necessary that an American minister, commis-
sioned to an American State, shall take an English ship to Liver-
pool to find another English ship to carry him to his destination.
We are not to be frightened by the use of that ugly \vord "subsidy."
[Laughter.] We should pay to American steamship lines a liberal
compensation for carrying our mails, instead of turning them over
to British tramp steamships. [Applause.] We do not desire to
dominate these neighboring governments ; we do not desire to deal
with them in any spirit of aggression. We desire those friendly
political, mental, and commercial relations which shall promote
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 09
ttieir interests equally icitlt ours. We should not longer forego
those commercial relations and advantages which our geographical
relations suggest and make so desirable. If you will excuse me
from further public speech I will be glad to take by the hand my
Henry County friends. [Cheers. ]
Mr. Harrison arrived home — after the Henry County
reception in University Park — in time to welcome his
guest, Gen. R. A. Alger of Michigan, the distinguished
gentlemen meeting for the first time. In the afternoon
several hundred of the Henry County visitors, escorted
by the local clubs, marched to the Harrison residence to
pay their respects to General Alger.
In introducing his guest General Harrison said :
My Fellow-citizens— I have had the pleasure to day to receive
in my own home a distinguished citizen of a neighboring State ;
distinguished not only for his relation to the civil administration
of affairs in his State, but also as one of those conspicuous
soldiers contributed by Michigan to the armies of the Union when
our national life was in peril. I am sure you will be glad to make
broader the welcome I have given him, and to show him that he
has a warm place in the affections of our Indiana people. Let me
present to you General Alger of Michigan. [Prolonged applause.]
General Alger responded as follows :
Gentlemen— I thank you very much for this cordial greeting. I
thank you very kindly, General Harrison, for the pleasant words
you have said of me personally. I wish to say— as you would
know if you lived in Michigan — that I am not a speechmaker. I
composed a few speeches some weeks ago, and General Harrison
has been delivering them evei since. [Laughter.] After reading
his speeches carefully, each one of them a gem of concentrated
thought, I have made up my mind that the Chicago Convention made
no mistake. [Applause.] We have not held any post- mortem in
our State, We are glad that we have such a gallant candidate, a
man in whose composition no flaw can be found, in whose life no
act or word can be adversely criticised. We are as proud in Mich-
igan of your candidate — who is our candidate also — as we could
possibly be were any other man in the universe named. We are
all Harrison men in Michigan now ; and the place he has in our
hearts is just as warm as though he lived within our own borders.
[Applause. ] You Hoosiers have no patent upon this. [Applause. ]
TO HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
The people of the United States have a great crisis before them.
The question as to the life and prosperity of our industrial insti-
tutions is at stake. We have, as we have always had, since this
country was worth caring for, the opposition of the English
Government.
INDIANAPOLIS, AUGUST 1.
THE month of August opened with two thousand visitors
from Morgan and Brown counties, including thirty sur-
vivors of General Harrison's former regiment. The
several clubs comprising the Brown County delegation were
led by Norman J. Roberts, Leander Woods, Wm. Griffin,
E. D. Turner, and C. W. Mackenzie of Nashville.
Prominent in the Morgan County detachment were W.
W. Kennedy, W. C. Banta, John Hardwick, M. G. Branch,
David Wilson, H. C Hodges, R. C. Griffitt, J. G. Bain,
John S. Newby, J. G. Kennedy, U. M. Hinson, Merwin
Rowe, Hon. J. H. Jordan, H. R. Butler, W. C. Barnett,
John C. Comer, Geo. Mitchell, and J. I. Hilton of Martins-
ville. Hon. G. A. Adams spoke for the visitors.
General Harrison, responding, said :
Mr, Adams and my Morgan and Brown County Friends — In pre-
vious campaigns I have not put you to the trouble to come and see
me. My habit has been to go to you, and it has been my pleasure often
to discuss before you the issues" that were involved in our cam-
paigns. The limitations which are upon me now prevent me from
following this old habit, and put you, who desire to see me, to the
trouble of coming here. My associations with the county of Morgan
have been very close. Among its citizens are some of my most
devoted personal and political friends. There are also in your
county a large number of my comrades, to whom I am bound by the
very close ties that must always unite those who marched under
the same regimental banner. Your county furnished two com-
panies for the Seventieth Indiana — brave, true men, commanded
by intelligent and capable officers, and having in the ranks of both
companies men as capable of command as any who wore shoulder-
straps in the regiment. These men, together with their comrades
of the Thirty-third and other regiments that were recruited in
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 71
your county, went into the service from very high motives. They
heard the call of their* country, saying : 'k He that loveth father or
mother or wife or child -or houses or lands more than me is not
worthy of me,'1 and they were found worthy by this supreme test.
Many of you were so careless of a money recompense for the service
you offered and gave that when you lifted your hands and swore
to protect and defend the Constitution and the flag you didn't even
know what your pay was to be. [Cries of "That's so !''] If there
was any carefulness or thought in that direction it was only that
the necessary provision might be made for those you left at home.
No sordid impulse, no low emotion, called you to the field.
[Applause. ] In remembering all the pa inful ways in which you
walked, ways of toil, and suffering, and sickness, and dying, to
emerge into the glorious sunlight of that great day at Washington, we
must not forget that in the homes you left there were also sacri-
fices and sufferings. Anxiety dwelt perpetually with those you
left behind. We remember gratefully the sacrifices and sufferings
of the fathers and mothers who sent you to the field, and, much
more, of the wives who bravely gave up to the country the most
cherished objects of their love. And now peace has come ; no
hand is lifted against the flag ; the Constitution is again supreme
and the Nation one. My countrymen, it is no time now to use an
apothecary's scale to weigh the rewards of the men who saved the
country. [Applause.]
If you will pardon me I will not further follow the line of re-
marks suggested by the kind words you have addressed to me
through your representative. I notice the limitation which your
spokesman has put upon you, but I beg to assure him and you that
I am not so worn that I have not the strength to greet any of you
who may desire to greet me. [Great applause. J
INDIANAPOLIS, AUGUST 3.
ON the third of August, with the mercury registering
ninety-nine degrees, thirty-five hundred visitors arrived
from Montgomery and Clinton counties, Indiana. Their
parade, carrying miniature log-cabins and other emblems,
was one of the most enthusiastic demonstrations of the
campaign. Fifty voters of 1840 headed the column led by
Major D. K. Price, aged 92. The Montgomery County
72 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
delegation was marshalled by John H. Burford, W. W.
Thornton, T. H. B. McCain, John S." Brown, E. P. Mc-
Clarkey, John Johnson, J. R. Bonnell, D. W. Roundtree,
T. H. Ristine, H. M. Billingsley, Dumont Kennedy, and
Clerk Hulett of Crawfordsville. Their spokesman was
Hon. Peter S. Kennedy.
Among the Clinton County leaders were Albert H. Coble,
Edward R. Burns, A. T. Dennis, Wm. H. Staley, R. P.
Shanklin, S. A. Coulton, J. W. Harrison, J. T. Hockman,
Nicholas Rice, Ambrose Colby, Oliver Hedgecock, and
Dr. Gard of Frankfort. Judge J. C. Suit was their orator.
In reply to their addresses General Harrison said :
My Fellow -citizens — These daily and increasing delegations com-
ing to witness their interest in the great issues which are pre-
sented for their consideration and determination, and bearing as
they do to me their kind personal greetings, quite overmatch my
ability to fittingly greet and respond to them.
You are here from every walk in life. Some of you have achieved
success in the mechanical arts, some in professional pursuits, and
more of you come from that first great pursuit of man — the tilling
of the soil — and you come to express the thought that you have
common interests ; that these diverse pursuits are bound together
harmoniously in a common governmental policy and administra-
tion. Your interests have had a harmonious and an amazing
growth under that protective system to which your representatives
have referred, and you wisely demand a continuation of that policy
for their further advancement and development. [Applause. ] You
are in large part members of the Republican party. You have in
the past contributed your personal influence, as well as your ballots,
to the great victories which it lias won. Among the great achieve-
ments of our party I think we may worthily mention the passage
of that beneficent act of legislation known as the " homestead law. "
It was impossible to the old parties. It was possible only to a
party composed of the sturdy yeomanry of the free States. [Ap-
plause.] It has populated our Territories and newer States with
the elect of our citizenship. It opened a way to an ownership of
the soil to a vast number of our citizens, and there is no surer
bond in the direction of good citizenship than that our people
should have property in the soil upon which they live. It is one
of the best elements of our strength as a State that our farm- lands
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 73
are so largely possessed in small tracts, and are tilled by the men
who own them. It is one of the best evidences of the prosperity
of our cities that so large a proportion of the men who work are
covered by their own roof trees. If we would perpetuate this
condition, we must maintain the American scale of wages.
[Applause.] The policy of the subdivision of the soil is one that
tends to strengthen our national life. God grant that it may be
long before we have in this country a tenantry that is hopelessly
such from one generation to another. [Applause. ] That condition
of things which makes Ireland a land of tenants, and which holds
in vast estates the lands of England, must never rind footing here.
[Applause.] Small farms invite the church and the school-house
into the neighborhood. Therefore, it was in the beginning the
Republican party declared for free homes of a quarter-section each.
That policy should be perpetuated as long as our public domain
lasts, and all our legislation should tend in the direction which I
have indicated. I cannot discuss all the important questions
to which you have called my attention. I have before alluded to
some of them. My Montgomery and Clinton county friends, I
thank you for the cordial and hopeful words you have addressed to
me. My highest ambition is to be found worthy of your respect
and confidence. [Applause.]
To these veterans of 1840 WT!IO kindly transfer to this the interest
they felt in that campaign, to these first voters who come to join
us with the high impulses of youth, I desire to extend my sincere
thanks. [Applause.]
INDIANAPOLIS, AUGUST 4.
THE most remarkable night demonstration of the cam-
paign occurred August 4, the occasion being the visit of
the Harrison and Morton Eailroad Club of Terre Haute,
a thousand strong. They were met by twelve hundred
members of the Indianapolis Railroad Club, and, escorted
by several thousand citizens, marched to the Harrison resi-
dence.
At the head of the column rolled the model of a monster
locomotive, emitting fire and smoke and bearing the sig-
nificant number 544. Hundreds of stores and residences
along the line of march were illuminated.
74 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
At the head of the visiting club marched its officers:
President, D. T. Downs; Secretary, Chas. E. Carter; Treas-
urer, Beirj. McKeen; and Vice-Presidents, R. B. Woolsey,
J. L. Pringle, J. N. Evanhart, E. G. South, L. M. Murphy,
H. M. Kearns, George Leckert, and W. H. Miller.
President Downs delivered an address and presented an
engrossed copy of the club roster. General Harrison spoke
from a stand in front of his residence, and said :
Mr. Downs, Gentlemen of the Terre Haute Railroad Club, and
Fellow citizens — I am amazed and gratified at the character of
this demonstration to-night. I do not find words to express the
emotions which swell in my heart as I look into your faces and
listen to the kindly greetings which you have given me through
your representative. He has not spoken in too high praise of the
railroad men of the United States. The character of the duties they
are called to discharge require great intelligence, in many depart-
ments the best skill in the highest mechanic arts, and in all, even
in the lowest grade of labor in connection with railroad manage-
ment, there is required, for the safety of the public who entrust
themselves to your care, fidelity and watchfulness, not only in the
day, but in the darkness. The man who- attends the switch, the
trackman who observes the condition of the track — all these have
put into their charge and keeping the lives of men and women
and the safety of our commerce. Therefore it is that the exigencies
of the service in which you are engaged have operated to select and
call into the service of our great railroad corporations a picked
body of men. I gratefully acknowledge to-night the service you
render to the country of which I am a citizen. The great impor-
tance of the enterprises with which you are connected have already
suggested to our legislators that they owe duties to you as well
as to the travelling and mercantile public. The Congress of the
United States has, under that provision of the Constitution which
commits to its care all foreign and interstate commerce, undertaken
to regulate the great interstate railroads in the interest of equal and
fair competition and in the equal interest of all members of our
communities. I do not doubt that certain and necessary provisions
for the safety of the men who operate these roads will yet be made
compulsory by public and general law. [Applause.] The dangers
connected with your calling are very great, and the public interest,
as well as your own, requires that they should be reduced to the
minimum. I do not doubt that we shall yet require that uniformity
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 75
in the construction of railroad cars that will diminish the danger
of those who must pass between them in order to make up trains,
[Applause. ] I do not doubt, either, that as these corporations are
not private corporations, but are recognized by the law to which I
have referred and by the uniform decisions of our courts as having
public relations, we shall yet see legislation in the direction of
providing some suitable tribunal of arbitration for the settlement of
differences between railroad men and the companies that engage
their services. [Great applause. ] I believe that in these directions,
and others that I have not time to suggest, reforms will work them-
selves out, with exact justice to the companies and with justice to
the men they employ. Because, my friends, I do not doubt— and I
hope you will never allow yourselves to doubt — that the great mass
of our people, of .all vocations and callings, love justice and right
and hate oppression. [Applause.] The laboring men of this land
may safely trust every just reform in which they are interested to
public discussion and to the logic of reason ; they may surely hope,
upon these lines, which are open to you by the ballot-box, to ac-
complish under our American institutions all those right things
you have conceived as necessary to your highest success and well-
being. Do not allow yourselves to doubt, for one moment, the
friendly sentiment of the great masses of our people. Make your
appeal wisely, and calmly, and boldly, for every reform you
desire, to that sentiment of justice which pervades our American
public. [Applause. ]
You come to-night from one of our most beautiful Indiana cities.
It was built on the Wabash in the expectation that that stream
would furnish the channel of its communication with the outside
world. But the Wabash is a small tributary to-day to the com-
merce of Terre Haute. The railroads that span it are the great
vehicles of your commerce. They have largely superseded the
water communication that was deemed so important in the first
settlement, and, perhaps, was so decisive in the location of your
city. Terre Haute is conspicuous for its industries. The smoke of
your factories goes up night and day. The farms about your city
have become gardens, and the cordial and harmonious relations
between the railroad shop and the factory and the farms that lie
about have a conspicuous illustration with you. You have found
that that policy which built up these shops, which maintains them,
which secures the largest output yearly from the factories, which
gives employment to the largest number of men, is the best thing
not only for the railroads that do the transportation, but for the
workingmen, who iind steady employment at good wages, and for
76 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
the farmers, who supply their needs. [Applause. ] You will not
willingly be led to believe that any policy that would check the
progress and the prosperity of these enterprises is good for you or for
the community in which you live. [Applause and cries of "No,
never !"] It will be hard to convince such an intelligent body of
workingmen that a policy which would transfer from this country
to any other the work that might be done here is good for them.
[Applause. ] It can easily be demonstrated that if our revenue laws
were so adjusted that the imports from Great Britain should be
doubled it would be good for the workingmen of England, but I
think it would be hard to demonstrate that it would be good for
the workingmen of America. [Applause. ] There is a wise selfish-
ness ; it begins at home, and he who has the care of his own fam-
ily first, of the community in which he lives, of the nation of which
he is a citizen, is wise in his generation.
Now, my friends, I have been daily talking. I used to be
thought by my friends to be a reticent man. [Laughter.] I fear
I am making an impression that I am garrulous. [Cries of "No!
No !"] And yet, when friends such as you take the trouble you
have to-night to visit me, I feel that I owe it to you to say some-
thing.
Now, thanking you for this roster, which will furnish authentic
evidence, if it is challenged, that this visit to-night has been from
genuine railroad men [applause] , I venture to invite my Terre Haute
friends to enter my house. 1 will ask the citizens of Indianapolis,
the escort club of my own home, railroad friends who have done
so much to make your coming here to-night pleasant, to kindly
refrain themselves, and allow me to greet the visitors. In order
that that may be accomplished, I will ask some of my Terre Haute
friends to place themselves by the door, that I may meet those who
are of their company. The others I have seen, or will see some
other day.
INDIANAPOLIS, AUGUST 6.
MONDAY, August G, General Harrison received a visit
from one hundred members of the Kansas City Elaine
Club, accompanied by many ladies, en route to New York
to welcome the Maine statesman on his return from Europe.
Col. R. H. Hunt led the club, and delivered a stirring
address on behalf of the Republicans of Missouri. On con-
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 77
eluding he introduced Miss Abbie Burgess, who presented
the General a beautiful badge inscribed " The Kansas City
Elaine Club Greet Their Next President." Miss Burgess
made the presentation in the name of the working- women
of America.
General Harrison responded briefly to these addresses,
stating that he found he had been talking a great deal of
late; "but," he added, "I never begin it; some one else
always starts it." He returned his cordial thanks to the
visitors for the compliment of their call.
Speaking of the trip which the visitors were making, he
commended its purpose in meeting upon his return to
America " that matchless defender of Republican princi-
ples— James G. Blaine. " He felt sure that no circumstance
would be omitted in doing him merited honor. He was
glad to know that the Republicans of Missouri are so zealous
and aggressive. He believed that they had, perhaps, too
much acquiesced in the majorities against them, and had
not offered such resistance as would prove their own
strength. In the coming canvass he thought the economic
questions at issue ought to work to the interest of Repub-
licans in Missouri and overcome in part the prevailing
Democratic prejudices there. He also expressed the hope
that the race question would cease to divide men by preju-
dices that should long ago have become extinct.
In reply to Miss Burgess' address the General expressed
his grateful appreciation of the souvenir, and said
that the women of the land could never be forgotten. To
those of them who are toilers for their daily bread the
first thought goes out in considering the question that
involves depreciation of wages, and concluded by declar-
ing if cheaper coats and cheaper garments were to be had
by still further reducing the wages of the sewing-women
of America, then he was not in favor of cheaper apparel.
78 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
INDIANAPOLIS, AUGUST 7.
INDIANAPOLIS contained several thousand visitors at this
period, in attendance on the State convention ; in addition
to these, however, on the seventh of August two large
delegations arrived. The first came from Tippecanoe
County. The city of Lafayette was represented by the Lin-
coln Club, H. C. Tinney, President; the Garfield Club,
Henry Vinton, President ; and the Young Men's Republican
Club Association. Among other prominent members of
the delegation were James M. Reynolds, N. I. Throckmor-
ton, W. H. Caulkins, Charles E. Wilson, Wm. Fraser,
John B. Sherwood, Charles Terry, John Opp, Alexander
Stidham, ^Matt Heffner, S. Vater, Maurice Mayerstein,
Geo. A. Harrison, W. D. Hilt, P. W. Sheehan, C. H. Hen-
derson, Henry Marshall, J. W. Jefferson, Wm. E. Beach,
John B. Gault, and H. M. Carter. Hon. B. Wilson Smith
delivered an address on behalf of his townsmen.
General Harrison, in his response, touched upon the
origin and principles of the Republican party. He said :
Mr. Smith and my Tippecanoe County Friends — lam very grateful
for the evidence which you give me this morning by your presence,
and by the kind words which your representative has addressed
to me, of your respect and good-will. You are members, in great
part, of a party that was not machine-made. It had its birth in an
impulse that stirred simultaneously the hearts of those who loved
liberty. The first convention of our party did not organize it.
Those men were great, but they were delegates — representatives of
principles which had already asserted their power over the con-
sciences and the hearts of the people. [Applause. ] The Republican
party did not organize for spoils ; it assembled about an altar of
sacrifice and in a sanctuary beset with enemies. You have not
forgotten our early battle-cry — "Free speech, a free press, free
schools and free Territories. " We have widened the last word ; it
is now " a free Nation. " The appeals which we have made and
shall yet make are addressed to the hearts, the consciences, and to
the mind of our people. Therefore, we believe in schools and
colleges, and seminaries of learning. Education is the great con-
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 79
servative and assimilating force. A doubter is not necessarily an
evil person. The capacity to doubt implies reason — the power of
solving doubts ; and if the doubt is accompanied with a purpose to
find the truth and a supreme affection for the truth when it is
found, he will not go widely astray. Therefore, in our political
campaigns let men think for themselves, and the truth will assert
its sway over the minds of our people. Then everything that
affects the record and character of the candidate and the principles
of the parties will be brought to a safe tribunal whose judgment
will be right. [Great applause and cries of ''Good !"]
I am not unaware of the fact that some of you had another con-
vention preference, but I have always believed that convention pref-
erences should be free in the Republican party [applause], and that
no prejudice should follow any Republican on account of that pref-
erence. As party men, we will judge a man by his post-conven-
tion conduct.
The second delegation comprised fifteen hundred citizens
from Vanderburg County. The Tippecanoe Club of Evans-
ville, with sixty veterans, led the column.
Leaders in the delegation were ex-Congressman Heil-
man, Henry S. Bennett, Chas. H. McCarer, J. E. Iglehart,
W. A. Wheeler, C. R. Howe, J. W. Compton, S. B. San-
som, S. A. Bate, John H. Osborn, John W. Davidson,
Henry Ludwig, Wm. Koelling, A. S. Glover, J. W. Roel-
ker, R. C. Wilkinson, James D. Parvin, Wm. Warren,
Chas. L. Roberts, and Geo. N. Wells.
Dr. W. G. Ralston delivered an address in the name of
the delegation.
General Harrison, in reply, said :
My Good Friends from the Pocket — I feel very much complimented
by your visit to-day. Your coming here from so great a distance
involved much inconvenience which those who live nearer have not
experienced You are geographically remote, but it does not follow
from that that you are remote from the sources of political influ-
ence and political power.
The General then spoke of the extension of the Republican party
from the lakes to the Ohio in Indiana and all over the North, say-
ing that geographical lines marked its limits only in the South.
He said that the people of Vanderburg County, living as they did
on the Ohio River, a river that some men sought to make the divis-
80 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
ion line between two governments, knew what it was to guard
their homes and what it was to send out veterans from the sturdy
yeomanry to tne defence of their country. He referred in the high-
est terms to General Shackelford and his service in the hour of his
country's need. "I greet you to-day," he continued, "as Republi-
cans— men whose judgment and conscience compel their political
opinions. It does not fall to my lot now to argue or discuss at
length any of the great political questions of the day. I have done
that in the past. It is reserved for others in this campaign. I
recall with pleasure my frequent visits to you and your cordial
reception when I came to speak to you. In this contest others will
maintain before you that great policy which, we believe, dignifies
eveiy American, both at home and abroad. "
Speaking in reference to wages, General Harrison said that he
thought we often forget the women who were compelled to work
for their daily bread. He sometimes thought those persons who
demand cheaper coats would be ashamed of themselves if they
could realize that their demand cut the wages of the women who
made these coats. In concluding, he greeted and thanked the
Tippecanoe Club for coming, and the Young Men's Republican
Club also, saying that he had heard of their efficient work in the
highest terms of praise.
INDIANAPOLIS, AUGUST 8.
The Republican State Convention.
THE Republican State Convention convened at Tomlinson
Hall, city of Indianapolis, August 8, 1888, and concluded its
work in one day.
It was the largest attended and most enthusiastic con-
vention ever held in Indiana. Hon. Wm. H. Calkins of
Indianapolis was chosen Chairman, and Mark L. De
Motte of Valparaiso Secretary. The following ticket was
nominated, and in November triumphantly elected :
Governor — Alvin P. Hovey, Posey County.
Lieutenant- Governor — Ira J. Chase, Hendricks County.
Secretary of State— Charles F. Griffin, Lake County.
Auditor of State — Bruce Carr, Orange County.
Treasurer — J. A. Lemcke, Vaiiderburg County.
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 81
Attorney- General — L. T. Michner, Shelby County.
Superintendent Public Instruction — H. M. LaFollette,
Boone County.
Reporter Supreme Court — John L. Griffiths, Marion
County.
JUDGES OF SUPREME COURT.
First District— Silas T. Coffey, Clay County.
Second District — J. G. Berkshire, Jennings County.
Fourth District — Walter Olds, Whitely County.
Electors-at-Large — James M. Shackelford, Yanderburg
County ; Thomas H. Nelson, Vigo County.
Judge Gardner, a delegate from Daviess County, intro-
duced a resolution, which was unanimously adopted midst
great enthusiasm, inviting General Harrison to visit the
convention, and designating Hon. Richard W. Thompson,
John W. Linck and E. P. Hammond a committee to convey
the invitation.
On the platform, with the presiding officer, to meet the
distinguished guest were the Hon. James N. Huston, Hon.
John M. Butler, Hon. Will Cumback, William Wallace,
Hon. W. P. Fishback, Hon. A.' C. Harris, Rev. Dr. Backus,
Judge E. B. Martindale, General Thomas Bennett, Judge
J. H. Jordan, and the Republican State officials.
The entrance of General Harrison, escorted by the com-
mittee, was followed by a tumultuous scene rarely wit-
nessed outside of a national convention, the demonstration
lasting nearly ten minutes. Chairman Calkins finally suc-
ceeded in introducing — " the next President" — and Gen-
eral Harrison spoke as follows :
Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Convention — When I received
your invitation to appear for a moment before you I felt that what
you asked could not involve any indelicacy, and as it offered me
the only opportunity which I shall have to look into the faces of my
Indiana Republican friends here assembled, I could not find it in
my heart to deny myself the pleasure of spending a moment in
your presence. [Applause.] This enthusiastic and kindly recep-
6
82 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
tion crowns a long series of friendly acts on the part of my Repub-
lican friends of Indiana. • To have your confidence is very grateful
to me , to be worthy of your confidence is the highest ambition I
can set before me. [Applause.] Whatever may befall me, I feel
that my fellow-citizens of Indiana have crowned me and made me
forever their debtor. [Applause. ] But I must not detain you from
the business which has brought you here. [Cries of "Go on!"]
Such an assemblage as this is characteristic of America. What
you shall do to-day will influence the prosperity and welfare of the
State. Such a meeting is a notable historical event. We have
to-day transpiring in this country two other events that are attract-
ing wide interest. At the chief seaport of our country that great
Republican, and that great American, James G. Blaine, returns to
his home. [Applause. ] We shall not be disappointed, I hope, in
hearing his powerful voice in Indiana before the campaign is old.
[Applause.] Another scene attracts our solemn and even tearful
interest, for while you are transacting your business here to-day
a draped train is bearing from the place of his sojourn by the sea
to the place of his interment at Washington the mortal part of
Philip H. Sheridan. From the convention at Chicago we sent him
our greetings and our earnest prayers for his restoration. To-day
we mourn our hero dead. You called him then a favorite child of
victory, and such he was. He was one of those great commanders
who, upon the field of battle, towered a very god of war. [Applause. ]
He was one of those earnest fighters for his country who did not
at the end of his first day's fight contemplate rest and recuperation
for his own. command. He rested and refreshed his command with
the wine of victory,* and found recuperation in the dispersion of
the enemy that confronted him. [Great applause.] This gallant
son of Ireland and America [great applause] has written a chapter
in the art of war that will not fail to instruct and to develop, when
the exigencies may come again, others who shall repeat in defence
of our flag his glorious achievements. [Great applause.]
And now, Mr. President, and gentlemen, I am sure the heat of
this hall and the labors that are before you suggest to you, as they
do to me, that I shall close these remarks and bid you good by.
[Great applause. J
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 83
INDIANAPOLIS, AUGUST 14
GODFREY COMMANDERY, Knights Templars, of Chicago,
colored men, en route to the Grand Conclave at Louis-
ville, paid their respects to General Harrison 011 the 13th,
and were individually presented by Eminent Commander
H. S. Cooper. On August 14 the visitors aggregated
6,000.
The first delegation came from Hamilton County, In-
diana, headed by eighty veterans of the Tippecanoe Club,
Charles Swain, President. There were nine Lincoln
League organizations in line. Among the leaders were J.
K. Bush, J. E. Walker, F. B. Pfaff, J. R. Christian, Benj.
Goldsmith, Ike Hiatt, and C. R. Davis, of Noblesville, and
Captain Carl, of Arcadia. Hon. J. K. Gray was their
spokesman.
General Harrison, in reply, said :
Colonel Gray and my Hamilton County Friends — The demonstra-
tion which you have made this morning is worthy of Hamilton
County , it is worthy of the great party to which you have given
the consent of your minds and the love of your hearts ; it is alto-
gether more than worthy of him whom you have come to greet.
You come from a county that, as your spokesman has said, is
greatly favored, a county rich in its agricultural capacity ; but, as
I look into your faces this morning I turn from the contemplation
of material wealth to the thought of those things that are higher
and better. [Applause and cries of "Good ! Good !"] Not long ago
a distinguished Englishman and jurist visited our country. On
the eve of his return, in a public address, he alluded to the fact
that wherever he went he was asked whether he was not amazed at
the great size of our country. This student of law and government
very kindly, but very decidedly, rebuked this too prevalent pride
of bulk, and called our attention to the finer and higher things
that he had observed in our American civilization.
So to-day, as I look into these intelligent faces, my thoughts are
turned away from those things that are scheduled, that have their
places i'n our census returns, to those things which belong to the
higher man— his spiritual and moral nature. [Applause. ] 1 con-
84 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
gratulate you, not so much upon the rich farm lands of your county
as upon your virtuous and happy homes. [Applause. ] The home
is the best, as it is the first, school of good citizenship. It is the
great conservative and assimilating force. I should despair for my
country if American citizens were to be trained only in our schools,
valuable as their instruction is. It is in the home that we first
learn obedience and respect for law. Parental authority is the
type of beneficent government. It is in the home that we learn
to love, in the mother that bore us, that which is virtuous, con-
secrated, and pure. [Applause. ] I take more pride in the fact that
the Republican party has always been the friend and protector of
the American home than in aught else. [Applause. ] By the benefi-
cent homestead law it created more than half a million of homes ;
by the Emancipation Proclamation it converted a million cattle-
pens into homes. [Applause ] And it is still true to those princi-
ples that will preserve contentment and prosperity in our homes.
I greet you as men who have been nurtured in such homes, and
call your thought to the fact that the Republican party has always
been, and can be trusted to be, friendly to all that will promote
virtue, intelligence and morality in the homes of our people.
Now, in view of the fact that I must greet other delegations to-
day [ories of "Don't stop!7'], I am sure you will be content with
these brief remarks, though they are altogether an inadequate re-
turn for your cordial demonstration.
The other delegations of the day came from Macon and
Douglas counties, Illinois, numbering 3,000. A notable
feature of the Douglas County display was the tattered old
battle-flag of the Twenty-first Illinois Regiment — General
Grant's original regiment — borne by seven survivors.
Capt. T. D. Minturn, of Tuscola, was spokesman. At
the head of the Macon County column marched 300 uni-
formed members of the Young Men's Republican Club of
Decatur, led by Captain Wm. M. Strange and Wm. Fra-
zier; Prof. L. A. Estes, of Westfield, headed a company
from that town. Andrew H. Mills, of Decatur, spoke for
the Macon County people.
General. Harrison said :
My Republican Friends — I feel myself unable to respond suitably
to this magnificent demonstration and to those kindly words which
you have addressed to me. Public duties involve grave responsi-
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 85
bilities. The conscientious man will not contemplate them with-
out seriousness. But the man who sincerely desires to know and
to do his duty may rely upon the favoring help of God and the
friendly judgment of his fellow-citizens. [Great applause.]
Your corning from another State and from distant homes testifies
to the observing interest which you feel in those questions which
are to be settled by the ballot in November. [Cries of "We will
settle them !"]
The confessed free-traders are very few in this country. But
English statesmen and English newspapers confidently declare that
in fact we have a great many. [Applause. ]
We are told that it is only an average reduction of seven per cent,
that is contemplated. [Laughter. ] WTell, if that were true, and
not a very deceptive statement, as it really is, you might fairly ask
whether this average reduction does not sacrifice some American
industry or the wages of our workingmen and work ing- women.
You may also fairly ask to see the free list, which does not figure
in this "average. " [Applause, and cries of "That's it !"] We would
have more confidence in the protest of these reformers that they are
not " free-traders " if we could occasionally hear one of them say that
he was a protectionist [applause] , or admit that our customs duties
should adequately favor our domestic industries. But they seem to
be content with a negative statement.
Those who would, if they could, eliminate the protective prin-
ciple from our tariff laws have, in former moments of candor,
described themselves as "progressive free-traders," and it is an apt
designation. The protective system is a barrier against the flood
of foreign importations and the competition of underpaid labor in
Europe. [Applause. ] Those who want to lower the dike owe it
to those who live behind it to make a plain statement of their pur-
poses. Do they want to invite the flood, or do they believe in the
dike, but think it will afford adequate protection at a lower level?
[Great and enthusiastic applause.]
What I say is only suggestive. I cannot in this brief talk go
into details, or even properly limit the illustrations I have used.
But this is an appropriate and timely inquiry : With what mo-
tive, what ultimate design, what disposition toward the principle
of protection is it that our present tariff schedule is attacked? It
may be that reductions should be made ; it may be that some duties
should be increased ; but we want to know whether those who pro-
pose the revision believe in taking thought of our American work-
ingmen .in fixing the rates, or will leave them to the chance effects
of a purely revenue tariff. [Applause. ]
SO HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
Now, having spoken once already to-rlay, you will accept this
inadequate acknowledgment of this magnificent demonstration.
I thank you, my Illinois friends, not only on my own behalf, but
on behalf of the Republicans of Indiana, for the great interest you
have manifested. [Applause.]
INDIANAPOLIS, AUGUST 15.
RUSH, Decatur, and Delaware counties, Indiana, con-
tributed fully five thousand visitors on the 15th of August.
Rush County sent twenty Republican clubs, mainly town-
ship organizations, led by one hundred veterans of 1836
and '40. The prominent Republicans of the delegation
were Hon. John K. Gowdy, John M. Stevens, A. L. Riggs,
W. J. Henley, John F. Moses, T. M. Green, J. C. Kiplin-
ger, J. W. Study, and G. W. Looney, of Rushville; R. R.
Spencer and J. A. Shannon, of Richland. Judge W. A.
•Cullen was their spokesman.
General Harrison, responding, said:-
Judge Cullen and my Rush County Friends — I am glad to see you
here — glad to be assured by him who has spoken in your behalf
that your coming here in some measure is intended as an evidence
of your personal respect for me. The respect of one's fellow-
citizens, who have opportunities to know him, is of priceless value.
I cannot in these daily addresses enter much into public ques-
tions.
You are Indianians, some of you by birth ; some of you, like
me, by choice. You are Republicans ; you have opposed always
the doctrine of State's rights ; you have believed and gloried in
the great citizenship that embraces all the people of all the States.
You believe that this Government is not a confederation to be dis-
solved at the will of any member of 'it, but a Nation having the
inherent right, by arms, if need be, to perpetuate its beneficent
existence. [Great applause. 1 Many of you who are here to day
have aided in vindicating that principle upon the battle field [cries
of "Plenty of us!"], and yet these views are not inconsistent with
a just State pride. We are proud to be Indianians, proud of the
story of her progress in material development, proud of her educa-
tional and benevolent institutions, proud of her Christian homes,
HARRISON'S SPEECHES, 87
proud of her part in the Civil War. If there has been any just
cause of reproach against our State we will all desire that it may
be removed. We may fairly appeal, to all Indianians, without dis-
tinction of party, to co-operate in promoting such public measures
as are calculated to lift up the dignity and honor and estimation
of Indiana among the States of the Union. [Great a.pplause.]
I will call your attention to one such subject that seems to me
to be worthy of your thought. It is the reform of our election
laws. [Applause and cries of " That's it !"] A constitutional amend-
ment, to which a great majority of our people gave their sanction,
has removed the impediments which stood in the way of progres-
sive legislation in the protection of an honest ballot in Indiana.
Formerly we could not require a definite period of residence in the
voting precinct. Now we may and have. The same amendment
authorized our Legislature to enact a just and strict registry law,
which will enable the inspectors properly to verify the claims of
those who offer a ballot. Every safeguard of law should be thrown
around the ballot-box until fraud in voting and frauds in counting
shall receive the sure penalties of law as well as the reprobation of
all good men. [Great applause. ] The Republican party has always
stood for election reforms. No measure tending to secure the
ballot-box against fraud has ever been opposed by its representa-
tives. I am not here to make imputations ; I submit this general
suggestion : Find me the party that sets the gate of election frauds
open, or holds it open, and I will show you the party that expects to
drive cattle that way. [Applause. ] Let us as citizens, irrespective
of party, unite to exalt the name of Indiana by making her election
laws models of justice and severity, and her elections free from the
taint of suspicion. [Great applause.] And now, as I must pres-
ently speak to other delegations, I am sure my Rush County friends
will allow me to close these remarks. [Applause and cheers. ]
The visitors from Decatur and Delaware counties were
received together. The Decatur delegation numbered
fifteen hundred, led by B. F. Bennett, John F. Goddard,
V. P. Harris, J. J. Hazelrigg, Geo. Anderson, Edward
Speer, A. G. Fisher, F. M. Sherwood, and A. S. Creath,
of Greensburg. Their spokesman was the Hon. Will
Cumback. Delaware County sent twelve organizations,
conspicuous among which were the Tippecanoe Club, the
Veterans Regiment, and Lincoln Colored Club. Among
the leaders of the delegation were ex-Senator M. C. Smith,
88 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
A. F. Collins, Hon. James N. Templer, Major J. F. Wild-
man, Rev. T. S. Guthrie, J. D. Hoyt, Geo. F. McCulloch,
W. W. Orr, Joseph G. Lefler, Lee Coffeen, C. F. W.
Neely, Ed. R. Templer, W. H. Murray, W. H. Stokes,
John S. Aldredge, J. R. Shoemaker, Jacob Stiffler, Web
S. Richey, T. H. Johnson and others, of Muncie. Rev.
K". L. Bray spoke on behalf of the Lincoln Club, but R. S.
Gregory delivered the address for the delegation as a
whole.
In reply to these several addresses General Harrison
said:
My Friends — The man who does not believe that the issues of this
campaign have taken a very deep hold upon the minds and upon
the hearts of the American people would do well to come and
stand with me and look into the faces of the masses who gather here.
I know nothing of the human face if I do not read again in your
faces and eyes the lesson I have read here from day to day, and
it is this : That the thinking, intelligent, God-fearing and self-
respecting citizens of this country believe there are issues at stake
that demand their earnest effort. [Applause.] A campaign that
is one simply of party management, a campaign by committees and
public speakers, may fail ; but a campaign to which the men and
women of the country give their unselfish and earnest efforts can
never fail. [Great applause.]
It is no personal interest in the candidate that stirs these emotions
in your hearts ; it is the belief that questions are involved affecting
your prosperity and the prosperity of your neighbors ; affecting the
dignity of the nation ; affecting the generation to which you will
presently leave the government which our fathers built and you
have saved. [Applause.]
One subject is never omitted by those who speak for these visiting
delegations, viz. : the protective tariff. The purpose not to permit
American wages to be brought below the level of comfortable liv-
ing, and competence, and hope, by competition with the pauper
labor of Europe, has taken a very strong hold upon our people.
[Applause.] And of kin to this suggestion and purpose is this
other : that we will not permit this country to be made the dump-
ing-ground of foreign pauperism and crime. [Great applause.]
There are some who profess to be eager to exclude paupers and
Chinese laborers, and at the same time advocate a policy that
brings the American workman into competition with the product
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 89
of cheap foreign labor. [Applause and cries of "That's it!"] The
disastrous effects upon our \vorkingmen and work ing- women of
competition with cheap, underpaid labor are not obviated by
keeping the cheap worker over the sea if the product of his cheap
labor isj allowed free competition in our market. We should pro-
tect our people against competition with the products of underpaid
labor abroad as well as against the coming to our shores of paupers,
laborers under contract, and the Chinese labor. [Enthusiastic ap-
plause. ] These two thoughts are twin thoughts ; the same logic
supports both ; and the Republican party holds them as the dual
conclusion of one great argument.
Now, gentlemen, to the first voters, who come with the high
impulse of recruits into this strife ; to these old men, seasoned
veterans of many a contest, and to these colored friends, whose
fidelity has been conspicuous, I give my thanks and hearty greet-
ings. [Applause.] There has been a desire expressed that the
reception of these delegations should be individualized ; that Dela-
ware should be received by itself, and Decatur separately ; but that
is not possible. You are one in thought and purpose ; and if I am
not able to individualize your reception by counties, I will, so far
as I can, now make it absolutely individual by greeting each one of
you.
INDIANAPOLIS, AUGUST 17.
DELEGATIONS from Ohio, Indiana, and Illinpis, aggre-
gating between nine and ten thousand visitors, paid their
respects to the Republican nominee on the seventeenth of
August.
The Ohio delegation came from Bellefontaine, Logan
County, led by Judge William Lawrence. They carried
a beautiful old silk banner that had been presented to a
Logan County club at the hands of Gen. Wm. Henry
Harrison in 1840.
Ford County, Illinois, sent a large delegation, headed by
Judge A. Sample and Col. C. Bogardus, of Paxton. The
Young Men's Club — Wm. Ramsey, President, and the
Paxton League — T. T. Thompson, President, were con-
spicuous in this delegation.
90 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
The Kankakee County (Illinois) delegation, headed by
the Republican club of the City of Kankakee in campaign
uniforms, was led by Judge T. S. Sawyer, D. H. Paddock,
F. S. Hatch, W. F. Kenoga, H. L." Richardson, J. F.
Leonard, R. D. Sherman, Geo. R. Letourneau, and Judge
J. N. Orr.
Morgan Count}-, Illinois, contributed the largest delega-
tion of the day, over two thousand, with three drum corps,
one, the Jacksonville Juvenile Drum Corps, led by Thomas
Barbour, aged 81. Prominent in the Morgan delegation
were C. G. Rutledge, President Young Men's Republican
Club, B. F. Hilligass, D. M. Simmons, Dr. P. G. Gillett,
Sam'l W. Nichols, Judge M. T. Layman, J. G. Loomis,
A. P. and J. M. Smith, veterans of '-40, and Henry Yates,
son of Illinois' war Governor — all of Jacksonville.
The Indiana visitors came from three counties — Bar-
tholomew, Johnson, and Vermilion.
The Bartholomew contingent was composed largely of
veterans of the late war, who were led by a company of
their daughters in uniform. Among their representative
members were John C. Orr, W. W. Lambert, John H.
Taylor, John F. Ott, J. W. Morgan, John Sharp, T. B.
Prother, Andrew Perkinson, and H. Rost, of Columbus.
The Johnson County delegation numbered two thousand,
led by W. T. Pritchard, D. W. Barnett, Jessie Overstreet,
J. H. Vannuys, I. M. Thompson, Jacob Hazlett, and John
Brown, of Franklin.
Vermilion County sent fifteen hundred enthusiastic vis-
itors, commanded by A. J. Ralph, Marshal of the delega-
tion. Other leaders were Hon. R. B. Sears, W. L. Porter,
Rob't A. Parrett, S. B. Davis, R. H. Nixon, Geo. H.
Fisher, and Andrew Curtis, of Newport.
The speakers on behalf of these several delegations were :
Hon. William Lawrence, of Ohio; Hon. Frank L. Cook,
Paxton, 111. ; Judge C. R. Starr, Kankakee County, 111. ;
Prof. Win. D. Saunders, Jacksonville, 111. ; Major W. T.
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 91
Strickland, Bartholomew County, Ind. ; Col. Sam'l P.
Oyler, Johnson County, Ind. ; Hon. H. H. Connelly, Ver-
milion County, Ind. To these addresses General Harrison
responded as follows :
My Friends— The magnitude of this gathering, I fear, quite out-
reaches the capacity of my voice. It is so great and so cordial, it
has been accompanied by so many kind expressions, that my heart
is deeply touched — too deeply to permit of extended or connected
speech. I return most cordially the greetings of these friends from
Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois [cheers] , a trio of great States lying in
this great valley, endowed by nature with a productive capacity
that rivals the famous valley of the Nile, populated by a people
unsurpassed in intelligence, manly independence and courage.
[Applause and cheers.] The association of these States to-day
brings to my mind the fact that in the brigade with which I served
Indiana, Ohio, and Illinois were represented [applause] — three
regiments from Illinois, the One Hundred and Second, the One Hun-
dred and Fifth and the One Hundred and Twenty-ninth ; one from
Ohio, the Seventy-ninth, and one from Indiana, the Seventieth
Infantry. I have seen the men of these States stand together in
the evening parade. I have seen them also charge together in
battle, and die together for the flag they loved [great applause],
and when the battle was over I have seen the dead gathered from
the field they had enriched with their blood and laid side by side
in a common grave. Again you evidence by your coming that these
great States have in peace common interests and common sympa-
thies. The Republican .party has always been hospitable to the
truth. [Applause and laughter. ] It has never shunned debate. It
has boldly, and in the courage of the principles it has advocated,
opened the lists and challenged all comers. It has never found it
necessary or consistent with its great principles to suppress free
discussion of any question. There is not a Republican community
where any man may not advocate without fear his political beliefs.
[Cries of "That's so!"] There is not a Republican voting precinct
where any man, whatever may have been his relations to the flag
during the war, may not freely exercise his right to vote. [Cheers. ]
There is not one such precinct where the right of a Confederate
soldier freely to cast the ballot of his choice would not be defended
by the Union veterans of the war. [Applause and cries of "That's
true !"] Our party is tolerant of political differences. It has always
yielded to others all that it demanded for itself. It has been in-
tolerant of but one thing : disloyalty to the flag and to the Union
92 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
of States. [Great applause. ] It has had the good fortune to set
in the Constitution and in the permanent laws of our country
many of the great principles for which it has contended. It has
not only persuaded a majority of our thinking people, but it has
had the unusual fortune to compel those who opposed it to give a
belated assent to every great principle it has supported.
Now, gentlemen, I am sure you will excuse further speech.
What I say here must necessarily be veiy general. It would not
be in good taste for me to make too close or too personal an appli-
cation of Republican principles. [Laughter and applause and
cries of "You're a dandy !"]
I do not know what to say further. I have up to this time
greeted personally all those who came. My courage is a little
shaken as I look upon this vast multitude, but for a time, at
least — so long as I can, and to those who especially desire it, I will
give a personal greeting. [Great and prolonged applause. ]
INDIANAPOLIS, AUGUST 18.
THE commercial travelling men, and their friends, from
the cities of Peoria, Bloomington, Terre Haute, and La-
fayette, about a thousand in number, paid their respects
to General Harrison on the afternoon of the 18th of
August. The Bloomington delegation was led by J. H.
Sprague and Dan Van Elsler, the Peoria Club by J. G.
Jones. Each delegation was escorted by a splendid band.
They were met and escorted to the Harrison residence
by a committee from the Indianapolis Commercial Trav-
ellers' Association, comprising G. C. Webster, C. H. Mc-
therson, John Y. Parker, W. H. Schmidt, D. W. Coffin,
Harry Gates, E. K. Syfers, W. F. Winchester, Wm.
Sisson, T. P. Swain, C. L. Schmidt, Ed. Finney, O. W.
Moorman, Charles Lefler, M. P. Green, J. L. Earnhardt,
Berg. Applegate, G. R. Rhoads, Hon. J. H. Rowell, of
Bloomington; and Hon. J. S. Starr of Peoria spoke on
behalf of the visitors. General Harrison said :
Gentlemen of the Commercial Travellers' Association of Peoria,
Bloomington, Lafayette, and Tcrre Haute— I thank you for this most
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 93
cordial and beautiful demonstration. The respect of such a body
of men is a valuable acquisition. But I am particularly glad that
a class so large and so influential, and one that touches so many
communities, is loyally and earnestly devoted to the principles of
the Republican party. I have travelled somewhat in the wake of
the commercial men, and have observed that they have the habit of
getting the best of everything wherever they go. [Applause and
laughter. A voice : " That's the reason we are here !"] I am there-
fore quite ready to credit the statement of the gentleman who has
just spoken in your behalf when he tells me that the commercial
travellers are all Republicans. [Applause and cries of uHe was
right !"] I should expect they would get the best politics that were
to be found. [Laughter and applause. ]
Your calling is an active one — you are always on the move.
You are quick to discover the wants of local trade. You are per-
suasive in speech and address ; you are honest for the love of
integrity, and do not forget that you must again face your cus-
tomer after the goods are delivered. [Laughter and applause. ]
The men who employed you have chosen you, picked you out,
and they subject you to the weekly test of success. You have been
proved and not found wanting. The wide intercourse you have
with your fellow-men and the wide view you get of our country
must tend to make you liberal and patriotic.
The provincialism that once existed in this country has largely
disappeared, and the commercial travellers have been an important
agency in bringing this about. This going to and fro has given
you a fuller comprehension, not only of the extent of this country,
but of the greatness and unity of its people. [Cheers.] I have
thought that the prophet Daniel must have had a vision of the
commercial travellers when he said that in the last days many
should run to and fro and knowledge should be increased. [Laugh-
ter and applause.]
You will not expect me to enter upon the discussion of any of
the topics which have been suggested by those who have spoken
for you. Most of them I have already alluded to in public speech
since my nomination, and upon some of them I have spoken more
fully before. Let me suggest but this one thought : Do not allow
any one to persuade you that this great contest as to our tariff
policy is one between schedules. It is not a question of a seven per
cent, reduction. [Applause.] It is a question between wide-apart
principles. [Cries of "That's right!"]
The principle of protection, the intelligent recognition in the
framing of our tariff laws of the duty to protect our American
94 HABRISON'3 SPEECHES.
industries and maintain the American scale of wages by adequate
discriminating duties [cries of "That's right !" "That's it!"] on
the one hand, and on the other a denial of the constitutional right
to make our customs duties protective, or the assertion of the doc-
trine that free competition with foreign products is the ideal con-
dition to which all our legislation should tend. [Applause. ] .
Let me now, in behalf not only of myself, but of my family, thank
you for your visit and ask you to enter our home. [Applause.]
TOLEDO, OHIO, AUGUST 21.
GENERAL HARRISON left Indianapolis on the morning of
August 21, '88, for a two weeks' outing and vacation at
Middle Bass Island, Lake Erie, where he was the guest —
upon invitation of ex-Gov. Charles Foster, of Ohio — of
the Middle Bass Fishing Club, Mather Shoemaker, Sr.,
President.
He was accompanied by Mrs. Harrison, Judge Wm.
A. Woods and wife, Miss Woods, Samuel Miller, and
representatives of the Associated Press and Cincinnati
Commercial- Gazette.
His departure was not generally known, consequently
there was no demonstration along the line until Defiance,
Ohio, was reached, where several hundred people had
gathered. Hon. C. A. Flickinger delivered a brief address
of welcome.
General Harrison, speaking from the train, said :
Gentlemen — I am very much obliged to you for this reception.
You will excuse me, I am sure, for not attempting to make any
speech. This evidence of your friendly feeling is gratifying to
me. We were intending to travel to-day in quietness, and I am
confident you will conform to our wishes in that respect by allow-
ing me to say simply, "How do you do" and "Good- by."
Toledo was reached early in the evening, and several
thousand citizens and militia welcomed the distinguished
travellers. A committee of reception, comprising James
M. Brown, Chairman, Mayor Hamilton, Hon. E. D.
Potter, J. C. Bonner, John Berdan, C. A. King, Calvin
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 95
Barker, Fred Eaton, Col.S.C. Reynolds, Judge R.F. Doyle,
Judge Joseph Cummings, Hon. John F. Kumler, Hon.
Richard Waite, Wm. Baker, and Judge Austin, escorted
General Harrison and his party to the residence of Wm.
Cummings, whose guests they were. At night an open-
air mass-meeting was held in Memorial Hall Square, where
ten thousand men assembled. Gov. Foster spoke at
length, and was followed by General Harrison, who was
introduced by Hon. J. M. Brown, President of the Execu-
tive Committee United Republican Clubs, and spoke as
follows :
My Friends — You have already been told that this reception was
not planned by me, and yet I do not regret that I have yielded to
the urgent solicitation of your representatives and have consented
to stand for a few moments in the presence of this magnificent
arid instructive audience. [Applause.] I say instructive, for that
public man is dull indeed who does not gather both instruction and
inspiration from such meetings as this. [Applause.] I thank you
for any measure of personal respect and interest which your com-
ing here to-night may witness, but I do not see in this immense
gathering any testimony that is personal to me. I prefer to regard
it as another witness added to the long number I have seen before
of the deep-seated and earnest interest of our people in the pub-
lic questions that are to be settled in November. [Applause.] I
choose rather to regard it as a pledge that this interest you mani-
fest in me to-night will not stop here, but is the pledge of continued
and earnest personal work by each one of you for those principles
which have won the consent of your minds and the love of your
hearts. [Applause.] I cannot enter in any detail into the discus-
sion of public questions ; I would not at all put myself between
you and these great, important issues. I would, in all I may sajr,
put them to the front. We are here citizens of a great, prosperous,
magnificent Nation. We have common interests. We are here
charged with the common duties to perpetuate, if we can, the
prosperity and to maintain the honor of this great Republic.
[Applause.] We are here to-night in the enjoyment of free govern-
ment. We are here in the individual possession of better oppor-
tunities of development, of a larger prosperity, and of more individ-
ual comfort than are possessed by any other people in the world.
[Applause.] The great economic question as to what shall be our
future legislative policy is stated with a distinctness in this cam-
06 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
paign that it has never had before, and I believe the verdict and
decision will have an emphasis and finality that it has never had
before [Applause.] If there is any one here present to-night that
knows of any land that spreads a more promising sky of hope
above the heads of the poor and the laboring man than this, I
would be glad if he would name it. The one fact that I do not
need to stop to demonstrate by statistics, the one fact that I could
call out of this vast audience hundreds of witnesses to support by
their personal testimony, is that the scale of American wages is
higher than that of any other country in the world. [Applause.]
If this were not true, why is it that the workingmen and the
working women of the older lands turn their faces hitherward? If
there is a better country, one that offers better wages, fuller hopes
than this, why is it that those who are in quest of such better
things have not found it out and turned their faces thitherward?
Now. if that is true, then why is it true, and how is it to be con-
tinued— this condition of our country? It is because, and only
because, we have for years, by our protective tariff, discriminated
in favor of American manufacturers and American workingmen.
[Applause.] Strike down this protective system, bring our work-
ingmen and working-women in equal competition in the products
of their toil with those who labor abroad, and nothing is clearer
than that these mills and factories must reduce wages here to
the level with wages abroad, or they must shut down. You have
the choice to make ; you, the free citizens of this country, whose
ballots sway its destiny, will settle these questions in November.
[Applause.] I ask you how? Don't be deceived by the suggestion
that this is any contest over a seven per cent, reduction in the tariff
schedule. We are allowed now to say. I think, that all those who
are entitled to speak for the Democratic party have declared that
it is opposed to protection. That being so, the issue is clearly,
distinctly, strongly drawn. I beg you all — not in my interest, but
in your own : in the interest of your families and the country you
love — to ponder this question ; to think upon it with that seriousness
its importance demands, and when you have thought it out, settle
it , settle it in November, so that we shall be free for years to come
from this agitation in behalf of free trade. [Great applause.]
I thank you again for this kindly demonstration. I beg you to
accept these brief suggestions as the only but inadequate return
that I can make you for this kindness. [Applause.]
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 97
PUT-IN-BAY, OHIO, AUGUST 31.
THE residents of Put-in-Bay Island, about five hundred
in number, tendered General Harrison a reception on the
thirty-first of August. The steamboats from Cleveland,
Detroit, Toledo, and Sandusky brought several thousand
excursionists. General Harrison and his party 011 their
arrival from Middle Bass Island were met at the pier by
all the residents of Put-in-Bay Island, headed by their
most distinguished citizen John Brown, Jr., son of the
celebrated " Ossawatomie" Brown, of Harper's Ferry
fame.
From a pavilion in the adjacent grove John Brown
introduced Hon. Charles Foster, who said :
Fellow-citizens — General Harrison came to Middle Bass for the
purpose of rest and quiet. At the solicitation of a number of peo-
ple of this section of country — a great number, I might say — he
has kindly consented to give a reception here to-day, upon one
condition — that he was not to make a speech. Now, fellow-citizens,
I have thft very great pleasure of presenting to you General Ben-
jamin Harrison, the Republican candidate for the presidency.
[Applause. ]
As Governor Foster concluded, General Harrison arose
midst a shout of welcome and spoke as follows :
Ny Friends — I have found Governor Foster to be a very agreeable
and thoughtful host, and I find him to-day to be the most agreeable
master of ceremonies who has ever attended me at a public recep-
tion. I like his announcement of the condition under which I
appear before you to-day.
I never enjoy a banquet when my name is on the programme for
a toast. I do not, therefore, intend to speak to you about any of
those questions that are engaging your minds as citizens of this
prosperous and mighty and happy Nation. We are here to-day as
Americans, proud of the flag that symbolizes this great Union of
States ; proud of the story that has been written by our fathers in
council and in war, in the formation and defence and perpetuation
of our magnificent institutions We are here in the immediate
neighborhood of one of those great historic events that was among
08 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
the most potential agencies in settling our title to the great North-
west. If we had stood where we stand to-day we could have heard
the guns of Perry's fleet. If we had stood where we stand to-day
we could have welcomed him as he came a victor into Put -in-Bay.
These institutions of ours are in our own keeping now, and not
only our fundamental institutions, but the fame that has been won
by those who have gone before. I may therefore properly say to-
day that a campaign like this demands the thoughtful considera-
tion of every American voter. We are prosperous. [Cheers.] The
story of our prosperity, of our development in wealth, of our achieve-
ments in finance as a Nation, since and during the war, is almost
as notable and almost as admirable as that of our achievements in
arms.
The assembling of our revenue was even more difficult than the
assembling of armies, and yet we were able to maintain those
armies in the field, and have been able since not only to bear up
the great load of debt, but to pay it off, until that which was once
thought to be a burden that would crush our industries has come
to be in our hands but as the ball the boy tosses in play [cheers] ;
and we are to-day confronted with the question, not how we shall
get money, but how we shall wisely stop some of those avenues by
which wealth is pouring into our public treasury.
It is an easier problem than that which confronted the great war
Secretary, in whose name you so delight — how to raise revenue
to prosecute the war successfully. It will be wisely solved. And
may I note also the fact that, notwithstanding this complaint of
excessive revenue, there are some who suggest that they are not
able adequately to arouse the popular indignation against excessive
taxation because they cannot disclose to the people when or how
they are paying the taxes? [Applause.] It is taken, they say, so
indirectly and so subtly that these — our plain people — don't know
that they are paying them at all. [Applause.] But I must not
cross this line of party discussion. I have had a pleasant stay in
this most delightful neighborhood, and I cannot let this public
opportunity pass without expressing, for myself and for Mrs. Harri-
son, our grateful appreciation of the kind and thoughtful hospitality
which has been shown to us by the people of these islands. [Pro-
longed applause.]
HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
FORT WAYNE, IND , SEPTEMBER 4, 1888.
GENERAL HARRISON and party, en route home from
Middle Bass Island, arrived at Toledo on the evening of
Sept. 3, and were again the guests of Wm. Cummings.
At night they were tendered a reception by Mr. and Mrs.
John Berdan, at their residence.
On the morning of Sept. 4 the party started homeward.
The first stop was at Fort Wayne, where several thousand
Hoosiers welcomed their leader. Supt. Wall, of the Pitts-
burg and Fort Wayne Railroad, introduced the general,
who spoke as follows :
My Friends — I desire to thank you for this cordial demonstration.
I thank you not so much for myself as for the party to which most
of us have given the consent of our minds. I am glad to know
that the people are moved to a thoughtful consideration of those
questions which are this year presented for their determination.
Under a popular government like ours it is of the first importance
that every man who votes should have some reason for his vote ;
that every man who attaches himself to this or that political party
should intelligently understand both the creed and the purposes of
the party to which he belongs. I think it is universally conceded
by Democrats as well as by Republicans that the questions involved
in this campaign do have a very direct bearing upon the national
prosperity, and upon the prosperity and welfare of the individual
citizen. I think it is conceded that the result of this election will
affect beneficently or injuriously our great manufacturing interests,
and will affect for weal or for woe the workingmen and working
women who fill these busy hives of industry. [Applause.] This
much is conceded. I do not intend to-day to argue the question in
any detail. I want to call your attention to a few general facts
and principles, and the first one— the one I never tire of mention-
ing ; the one I deem so important that I do not shun the charge
that I am repeating myself — is this : that the condition of the wage-
workers of America is better than that of the wage workers of any
other country in the world. [Applause. ] Now, if that be true, it
is important that you should each find out why it is so ; that each
one of you should determine for himself .what effect a protective
tariff has had and is likely to have upon his wages and his pros-
100 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
perity. Does it need to be demonstrated that if we reduce our tariff
to a revenue level, if we abolish from it every consideration of pro-
tection, more goods will come in from abroad than come in now?
And what is the necessary effect? It is the transfer to foreign shops
of work that you need here ; it is to diminish American production
and increase English production.
That is to be the effect of it. It is not worth while to stand
upon nice definitions as to free trade. Some think it enough to
say that they are not free-traders because they are not in favor of
abolishing all customs duties. Let me remind such that the free-
trade countries of Europe, recognized to be such, have not abolished
all customs duties. A better distinction is this : The free-trader
believes in levying customs duties without any regard to the effect
of those duties upon the wages of our working people, or vipon the
production of our own shops. This, then, is the issue. Take it
to your homes. There are many confusing and contradictory state-
ments made in the public press and by public speakers. Ask any
of those who assail our protective system whether they do not
believe that if their policy is adopted a larger amount of foreign-
made goods will come into this country. It is their purpose to
increase importation in order to cheapen prices. I think I may
safely ask you to consider the question whether this cheapening
of prices, which they seem to regard as the highest attainment of
statesmanship, is consistent with the rate of wages that our work-
ing people enjoy now , whether it wrill not involve — if we are to
have foreign competition without favoring duties — a reduction of
American wages to the standard of the wages paid abroad.
[Applause.] Do you believe for one moment that two factories
making the same product can be maintained in competition when
one pays thirty- three per cent, more to its workingmen than the
other? Is it not certain that wages must be equalized in those
competing establishments or the one paying the higher wages must
shut down? [Applause and cries, "That's the thing !"] Herein
this city of Fort Wayne, so important and so prosperous, we have a
fine illustration of the accruing advantages of a large factory and
shop population. It has made your city prosperous as well as pop-
ulous, and it has made these outlying Allen County farms vastly
more valuable than they otherwise would have been. These interests
harmonize. But I only want to ask you to think upon these ques-
tions ; settle them in your own minds, for it is agreed by all that,
as they shall be settled one way or the other, your interests and
those of your families and of this community, and of every other
like community in this country, are to be affected, favorably or
HARRISOX'S SPEECHES. 101
unfavorably. May I not appeal to you to review these questions,
to throw off the shackles of preconceived notions and of party preju-
dices, and consider them anew in the light of all the information
that is accessible to you? If you shall do that I do not doubt that
the \vorking people of this country will this November forever
settle the question that American customs duties shall by intention,
by forethought, have regard to the wages of our working people.
[Applause. ]
And now, if you will pardon further speech, I shall be glad to
avail myself of the arrangements which the committee have pro-
vided to greet personally any of you who may desire to greet me.
[Prolonged applause and cheers.]
HUNTINGTON. INI)., SEPTEMBER 4.
THE next stop was at Huntington, where two thousand
people were congregated.
In response to repeated calls General Harrison said :
My Friends — Our stop here is altogether too brief for me to
attempt to speak ; yet I cannot refrain from expressing to you, my
friends of Huntington County, my sincere and grateful appreciation
for the evidence of your kindness in welcoming me so cordially to
my home after a brief absence. I have not travelled very far this
time, but I have seen nothing either on this visit, or any more
extended visit that I have heretofore made, to win away my inter-
ests and affection from the great State of Indiana. [Great applause. ]
It is great in the capabilities, both of its soil and its citizenship
[applause] ; great in its achievements during the war. When our
country was imperilled no State more nobly or magnificently re-
sponded to the demands which were made by the general Govern-
ment for men to fight and to die for the flag. [Applause.] I am
glad to greet in this audience to day my comrades of the war, and
all who have gathered here. I beg to thank you again for your
kindness.
1 02 HARRISON ' S SI WKL'HES.
PERU, IND., SEPTEMBER 4.
AT Peru a committee, headed by Hon. A. C. Bearss and
Giles W. Smith, waited upon General Harrison, who
addressed an audience of over two thousand as follows :
My Friends— I am very much obliged to you for that kindness
of feeling which your gathering here to-day evinces. I have had
a brief visit for rest, and I am come back to my home with very
kind feelings toward my friends in Indiana, who have, not only
during this important campaign, but always, when I have appealed
to them, treated me with the utmost consideration. I have not
time to-day to discuss the issues of this campaign. They are ex-
tremely important, and they will have a direct bearing upon the
prosperity of our country. I can only ask you to think of them,
and not to mistake the issue. It is very plain. It is the question of
whether our tariff laws shall be a protection to American working-
men and a protection to American manufacturing establishments.
Those who advocate tariff for revenue only do not take any thought
of our wage -workers, but let their interests take care of themselves.
On the other hand the Republican party believes that high regard
should be paid to the question what the effect will be upon wages
and upon the protection of our American shops. Those who believe
the doctrine agree with us ; and those who assail it, and say it is
unconstitutional, as has recently been said by a distinguished citi-
zen, would destroy our protective system if they could. We must
believe so, because we must impute to them sincerity in what they
say. I believe this campaign will settle for many years to come
the question of whether legislation shall be intelligently directed
in favor of the doctrine that we will, so far as maybe, see that our
farmers may find home consumers for their home product, and that
these populous manufacturing centres may give a larger value to
the farms that lie about them. You have these questions to settle.
They affect your interests as citizens I am sure that everything
that regards them, as well as everything that regards the candidate,
may be safely left in the kind hands of these intelligent citizens of
Indiana and of the United States. [Great cheering.]
JIAIUUSON'S SPEECHES.
KOKOMO, IND., SEPTEMBER 4.
THE city of Kokomo welcomed the party in the evening
with a brilliant illumination by natural gas. Three thou-
sand people were present. General Harrison said :
My Friends — I very much appreciate this spontaneous evidence
of your friendliness. That so many of you should have gathered
here this evening to greet us on our return home after a brief
absence from the State is very gratifying to me. Kokomo has
been for many years a very prosperous place. It has been the happy
home of a very intelligent and very thrifty people You are now,
however, realizing a development more rapid and much greater
than the most sanguine among you could have anticipated three
years ago. The large increase in the number and business of your
manufacturing establishments, the coming here from other parts of
the country of enterprising men with their capital to set up man-
ufacturing plants, has excited your interest and has promoted
your development. There is not a resident of Kokomo, there is not
a resident of Howard County, who does not rejoice in this great
prosperity. I am sure there is not a man or woman in this city
who does not realize that this new condition of things gives to
your boys, who are growing up, new avenues of useful thrift. It
opens to those who might otherwise have pursued common labor
access to skilled trades and higher compensation. There is not a
merchant in Kokomo who does not appreciate the added trade
which comes to his store. There is not a farmer in Howard County
who has not realized the benefits of a home market for his crops
[applause and cries of "Good!"], and especially for those perishable
products of the farm which do not bear distant transportation.
Now I submit to your consideration, in the light of these new
facts, whether, you have not a very deep interest in the protection
of our domestic industries and the maintenance of the American
standard of wages. There can be no mistaking the issue this year.
In previous campaigns it has been observed by evasive platform
declarations. It is now so clear that all men can understand it.
I would leave this thought with you : Will the prosperity that is
now realized by you, and that greater prosperity which you antici-
pate, be better advanced by the continuance of the protective
policy or by its destruction?
104 HAKRISOX'S SPEECHES.
TIPTON, IND., SEPTEMBER 4.
AT Tipton Junction, where several hundred people had
congregated, General Harrison said :
My Friends — There is no time this evening for me to say more
than that I thank you very sincerely for this cordial evidence of
your kindly feeling. I will not have time to discuss any public
questions. You will consider them for yourselves, and can have
ready access to all necessary information.
NOBLESVILLE, IND., SEPTEMBER 4.
AT Noblesville the train was met by a special from
Indianapolis, bearing the Columbia Club, a uniformed
organization of three hundred prominent young men, who
had come to escort General Harrison to his home.
To the assembled citizens of Noblesville the general
said:
My Friends — You are very kind, and I am grateful for this mani-
festation of your kindness. I cannot speak to you at any length to-
night. You are in the "gas belt" of Indiana. The result of the
discovery of this new fuel has been the rapid development of your
towns. You have shown your enterprise by hospitably opening
the way for the coming of new industrial enterprises. You have
felt it worth while not only to invite them, but to offer pecuniary
inducements for them to come. If it has been worth while to do
so much in the hope of developing your town and to add value to
your farms by making a home market for your farm product, is it
not also worth your while so to vote this fall as to save and enlarge
these new industrial enterprises? [Applause.] Let rne acknowl-
edge a new debt of gratitude to my friends of Hamilton County,
who have often before made me their debtor, and bid you good-
night.
HAJtRlSOX'S SPEECHES. 105
INDIANAPOLIS, SEPTEMBER 4.
THE home-coming of General Harrison was a veritable
ovation. Fifteen thousand people greeted and accompanied
him to his residence, led by the Columbia Club, the
Veterans' Regiment, and the Railroad Men's Club. Es-
corted by Gen. Foster, Daniel M. Ransdell, and W. N.
Harding, General Harrison — standing in his own door-
facing the great assembly, said :
My Friends — Two weeks ago to-day I left Indianapolis quietly
for a brief season of rest. We met in Ohio very considerate and
hospitable friends, who allowed nothing to be lacking to the enjoy-
ment and comfort of our brief vacation. But, notwithstanding all
the attractions of that island home in Lake Erie, we are to-night
very happy to be again at home. The enthusiastic welcome you
have extended to us has added grace and joy. I think I may
conclude that nothing has happened since I have been gone that
has disturbed your confidence or diminished your respect. [Great
applause and cries of "No! no!"] At the outset of this campaign
I said I would confidently commit all that was personal to myself
to the keeping of the intelligent and fair-minded citizens of Indiana.
[Applause.] We will go on our way in this campaign upon that
high and dignified plane upon which it has been pitched, so far as
it lay in our power, commending the principles of our party to
the intelligent interest of our fellow-citizens, and trusting to truth
and right for the victory. [Applause.] Most gratefully I acknowl-
edge the affectionate interest which has been shown to-night by my
old comrades of the war. [Applause. ] I am glad to know that in
this veteran organization there are many who have heretofore
differed with me in political opinion, but who are drawn in this
campaign, by a sense of our common interests, to cast in their
influence with us. I desire also to thank the Railroad Club for
their kind greetings. There has been a special significance in
their friendly organization, and I am grateful, also, to the mem-
bers of the Columbia Club for their part in this demonstration.
Now, with an overwhelming sense of inability to respond fittingly
to your cordiality and kindness, I can only thank you once more
and bid you good-night. [Applause.]
100 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
INDIANAPOLIS, SEPTEMBER 6.
ON the night of Sept. G General Harrison, in company
with General A. P. Hovey, Ex-Gov. A. G. Porter, Hon.
James N". Huston, Hon. R. B. F. Pierce, Judge Walker,
and other friends, reviewed from the balcony of the New-
Denison Hotel ten thousand marching Republicans.
It was one of the most brilliant and successful demon-
strations of the campaign. The great line was composed of
eighty-two Republican clubs and associations of the city
of Indianapolis, commanded by Chief Marshal Hon. Geo.
W. Spahr, assisted by the following mounted aids:
Major Geo. Herriott, Moses G. McLain, Dan'l M. Rans-
dell, Thomas F. Ryan, W. H. H. Miller, John B. Elam,
Dr. Austin Morris, Col. I. 1ST. Walker, Wm. L. Taylor,
W. A. Pattison, Capt. O. H. Hibben, Charles 'Murray,
Ed. Thompson, Charles Wright, S. D. Pray, J. .E. Has-
kell, Wm. Thomas, W. H. Tucker, Joseph Forbes, Ed.
Harmon, Lou Wade, John W. Bowlus, M. L. Johnson,
Miles Reynolds, W. E. Tousey, R. H. Rees, and W. D.
Wiles.
The column was divided into four divisions, commanded
by Col. N. R. Ruckle, Col. James B. Black, Horace
McKay, and Hon. Stanton J. Peelle. A great mass-meet-
ing followed the parade, and the issues of the campaign
were presented by General Hovey, Gov. Porter and Hon.
John M. Butler.
INDIANAPOLIS, SEPTEMBER 8.
GENERAL HARRISON on this date received perhaps the
most unique delegation of the campaign : a band of one
hundred girls and misses, aged from seven to fifteen years,
organized by Mrs. Mattie McCorkle. At their head rode
Master Charles Pettijohn, six years old, mounted upon a
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 107
pony, followed by a drum corps of eight young boys. The
girls marched four abreast, dressed in uniforms of red,
white and blue, carrying mounted Japanese lanterns.
They were commanded by Miss Florence Schilling. After
singing "Marching through Georgia," Master Petti John,
on behalf of the young ladies, presented the general a
handsome bouquet and made an address. General Harri-
son honored the young orator and the club with a speech,
and said :
When some one asked this afternoon, over the telephone, if I
would receive some children who wanted to pay me a visit, I gave
a very cheerful consent, because I thought I saw a chance to have
a good time. That you little ones would demand a speech from
me never entered my mind, nor did I expect to see a company so
prettily uniformed and so well drilled, both in marching and in
song.
Children have always been attractive to me. I have found not
only entertainment but instruction in their companionship. Little
ones often say wise things. In the presence of such a company as
this, one who has any aspirations for the things that are good and
pure cannot fail to have them strengthened. The kind words you
have addressed to me in song come, I am sure, from sincere and
loving hearts, and I am very grateful for them and for your visit.
Some of the best friends I have are under ten j^ears of age, and after
to-night I am sure I shall have many more, for all your names will
be added.
And now I hope you will all come in where we can see you and
show you whatever there is in our home to interest you. I would
like you all to feel that we will be glad if you will come to see us
often.
INDIANAPOLIS, SEPTEMBER 10.
GENERAL HARRISON'S visitors to-day comprised six
hundred G. A. R. veterans and their wives from North-
western Kansas — en route to the Grand Encampment —
under the lead of General W. H. Caldwell, Frank McGrath,
C. E. Monell, W. S. Search, Dr. A. Patten, J. W. Gar-
ner, and Dr. J. R. King, of Beloit, Kan. Colonel W. C.
108 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
Whitney, Commander of the First Division, was orator,
and assured General Harrison that ".Kansas grew more
corn and more babies than any other State in the Union."
In response the General said :
My Comrades — I have a choice to make and you have one. I
can occupy the few moments I have to spare either in public address
or in private, personal greeting. I think you would prefer, as I
shall prefer, to omit the public speech that I may be presented to
each of you. [Cries of "Good! Good !"] I beg you, therefore, to
permit me only to say that I very heartily appreciate this greeting
from my comrades of Kansas.
The bond that binds us together as soldiers of the late war is one
that is enduring and close. No party considerations can break it ;
it is stronger than political ties, and we are able thus in our Grand
Army associations to come together upon that broad and high plane
of fraternity, loyalty, and charity. [Applause and cries of "Good !
Good !"] Let me now, if it be your pleasure, extend a comrade's
hand to each of you. [Applause. ]
GENERAL HARRISON'S LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., September 11, 1888.
HON. M. M. ESTEE AND OTHERS, COMMITTEE, ETC. :
Gentlemen — When your committee visited me, on the Fourth of
July last, and presented the official announcement of my nomination
for the presidency of the United States by the Republican conven-
tion, I promised as soon as practicable to communicate to you a
more formal acceptance of the nomination. Since that time the
work of receiving and addressing, almost daily, large delegations
of my fellow-citizens has not only occupied all of my time, but has
in some measure rendered it unnecessary for me to use this letter
as a medium of communicating to the public my views upon the
questions involved in the campaign. I appreciate very highly the
confidence and respect manifested by the convention, and accept
the nomination with a feeling of gratitude and a full sense of the
responsibilities which accompany it.
It is a matter of congratulation that the declarations of the Chi
ca,go convention upon the questions that now attract the interest of
our people are so clear and emphatic. There is further cause of
congratulation in the fact that the convention utterances of the
Democratic party, if in any degree uncertain or contradictory, can
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 100
now be judged and interpreted by executive acts and messages,
and by definite propositions in legislation. This is especially true
of what is popularly known as the Tariff question. The issue can-
not now be obscured. It is not a contest between schedules, but
between wide-apart principles. The foreign competitors for our
market have, with quick instinct, seen how one issue of this con-
test may bring them advantage, and our own people are not so dull
as to miss or neglect the grave interests that are involved for them.
The assault upon our protective system is open and defiant. Pro-
tection is assailed as unconstitutional in law, or as vicious in prin-
ciple, and those who hold such views sincerely cannot stop short
of an absolute elimination from our tariff larws of the principle of
protection. The Mills bill is only a step, but it is toward an object
that the leaders of Democratic thought and legislation have clearly
in mind. The important question is not so much the length of
the step as the direction of it. Judged by the executive message
of December last, by the Mills bill, by the debates in Congress, and
by the St. Louis platform, the Democratic party will, if supported
by the country, place the tariff laws upon a purely revenue basis.
This is practical free trade — free trade in the English sense. The
legend upon the banner may not be "Free Trade" — it may be the
more obscure motto, "Tariff Reform ; " but neither the banner nor
the inscription is conclusive, or, indeed, very important. The as-
sault itself is the important fact.
Those who teach that the import duty upon foreign goods sold
in our market is paid by the consumer, and that the price of the
domestic competing article is enhanced to the amount of the duty
on the imported article — that every million of dollars collected for
customs duties represents many millions more which do not reach
the treasury, but are paid by our citizens as the increased cost of
domestic productions resulting from the tariff laws— may not intend
to discredit in the minds of others our system of levying duties on
competing foreign products, but it is clearly already discredited in
their own. We cannot doubt, without impugning their integrity,
that if free to act upon their convictions they would so revise our
laws as to lay the burden of the customs revenue upon articles that
are not produced in this country, and to place upon the free list
all competing foreign products. I do not stop to refute this theory
as to the effect of our tariff duties. Those who advance it are
students of maxims and not of the markets. They may be safely
allowed to call their project " Tariff Reform, " if the people under-
stand that in the end the argument compels free trade in all com-
peting products. This end may not be reached abruptly, and its
110 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
approach may be accompanied with some expressions of sympathy
for our protected industries and our working people, but it will
certainly come if these early steps do not arouse the people to effec-
tive resistance.
The Republican party holds that a protective tariff is constitu-
tional, wholesome, and necessary . We do not offer a fixed schedule,
but a principle. We will revise the schedule, modify rates, but
always with an intelligent provision as to the effect upon domestic
productions and the wages of our working people. We believe it
to be one of the worthy objects of tariff legislation to preserve
the American market for American producers, and to maintain the
American scale of wages by adequate discriminative duties upon
foreign competing products. The effect of lower rates and larger
importations upon the public revenue is contingent and doubtful,
but not so the effect upon American production and American
wages. Less work and lower wages must be accepted as the inevit-
able result of the increased offering of foreign goods in our mar-
ket. By way of recompense for this reduction in his wages, and
the loss of the American market, it is suggested that the diminished
wages of the workingman will have an undiminished purchasing
power, and that he will be able to make up for the loss of the home
market by an enlarged foreign market. Our workingmen have
the settlement of the question in their own hands. They now
obtain higher wages and live more comfortably than those of any
other country. They will make choice of the substantial advan-
tages they have in hand and the deceptive promises and forecasts
of these theorizing reformers. They will decide for themselves and
for their country whether the protective system shall be continued
or destroyed.
The fact of a treasury surplus, the amount of which is variously
stated, has directed public attention to a consideration of the
methods by which the national income may best be reduced to the
level of a wise and necessary expenditure. This condition has
been seized upon by those who are hostile to protective customs
duties as an advantageous base of attack upon our tariff laws.
They have magnified and nursed the surplus, which they affect to
deprecate, seemingly for the purpose of exaggerating the evil, in
order to reconcile the people to the extreme remedy they propose.
A proper reduction of the revenues does not necessitate, and should
not suggest, the abandonment or impairment of the protective sys-
tem. The methods suggested by our convention will not need to
be exhausted in order to effect the necessary reduction. We are
not likely to be called upon, I think, to make a present choice
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. Ill
between the surrender of the protective system and the entire repeal
of the internal taxes. Such a contingency, in view of the present
relation of expenditures to revenues, is remote. The inspection
and regulation of the manufacture and sale of oleomargarine is
important, and the revenue derived from it is not so great that the
repeal of the law need enter into any plan of revenue reduction.
The surplus now in the treasury should be used in the purchase of
bonds. The law authorizes this use of it, and if it is not needed
for current or deficiency appropriations, the people, and not the
banks in which it has been deposited, should have the advantage
of its use by stopping interest upon the public debt. At least those
who needlessly hoard it should not be allowed to use the fear of
a monetary stringency, thus produced, to coerce public sentiment
upon other questions.
Closely connected with the subject of the tariff is that of the
importation of foreign laborers under contracts of service to be per-
formed here. The law now in force prohibiting such contracts
received my cordial support in the Senate, and such amendments
as may be found necessary effectively to deliver our working men
and women from this most inequitable form of competition will
have my sincere advocacy. Legislation prohibiting the importa-
tion of laborers under contract to serve here will, however, afford
very inadequate relief to our working people if the system of pro-
tective duties is broken down. If the products of American shops
must compete in the American market, without favoring duties,
•with the products of cheap foreign labor the effect will be differ-
ent, if at all, only in degree, whether the cheap laborer is across
the street or over the sea. Such competition will soon reduce wages
here to the level of those abroad, and when that condition is
reached we will not need any laws forbidding the importation of
laborers under contract — they will have no inducement to come,
and the employer no inducement to send for them.
In the earlier years of our history public agencies to promote
immigration were common. The pioneer wanted a neighbor with
more friendly instincts than the Indian. Labor was scarce and
fully employed. But the day of the immigration bureau has gone
by. While our doors will continue open to proper immigration,
we do not need to issue special invitations to the inhabitants of
other countries to come to our shores or to share our citizenship.
Indeed, the necessity of some inspection and limitation is obvi-
ous. We should resolutely refuse to permit foreign governments
to send their paupers and criminals to our ports. We are also
clearly under a duty to defend our civilization by excluding alien
112 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
races whose ultimate assimilation with our people is neither possi-
ble nor desirable. The family has been the nucleus of our best
immigration, and the home the most potent assimilating force in
our civilization.
The objections to Chinese immigration are distinctive and con-
clusive, and are now so generally accepted as such that the question
has passed entirely beyond the stage of argument. The laws relat-
ing to this subject would, if I should be charged with their enforce-
ment, be faithfully executed. Such amendments or further legisla-
tion as may be necessary and proper to prevent evasions of the laws
and to stop further Chinese immigration would also meet my ap-
proval. The expression of the convention upon this subject is in
entire harmony with my views.
Our civil compact is a government by majorities, and the law loses
its sanction and the magistrate our respect when this compact is
broken. The evil results of election frauds do not expend them-
selves upon the voters who are robbed of their rightful influence in
public affairs. The individual or community or party that prac-
tises or connives at election frauds has suffered irreparable injury,
and will sooner or later realize that to exchange the American
system of majority rule for minority control is not only unlawful
and unpatriotic, but very unsafe for those who promote it. The
disf ranch isement of a single legal elector by fraud or intimidation
is a crime too grave to be regarded lightly. The right of eveiy
qualified elector to cast one free ballot and to have it honestly
counted must not be questioned. Every constitutional power should
be used to make this right secure and to- punish frauds upon the
ballot.
Our colored people do not ask special legislation in their interest,
but only to be made secure in the common rights of American citi-
zenship. They will, however, naturally mistrust the sincerity of
those party leaders who appeal to their race for support only in
those localities where the suffrage is free and election results
doubtful, and compass their disf ranch isement where their votes
would be controlling and their choice cannot be coerced.
The Nation, not less than the States, is dependent for prosperity
and security upon the intelligence and morality of the people.
This common interest very early suggested national aid in the
establishment and endowment of schools and colleges in the new
States. There is, I believe, a present exigency that calls for still
more liberal and direct appropriations in aid of common school
education in the States.
The territorial form of government is a temporary expedient,
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 113
not a permanent civil condition. It is adapted to the exigency
that suggested it, but becomes inadequate, and even oppressive,
when applied to fixed and populous communities. Several Terri-
tories are well able to bear the burdens and discharge the duties of
free commonwealths in the American Union. To exclude them
is to deny the just rights of their people, and may well excite their
indignant protest. No question of the political preference of the
"people of a Territory should close against them the hospitable door
which has opened to two thirds of the- existing States. But ad-
missions should be resolutely refused to any Territory a majority
of whose people cherish institutions that are repugnant to our
civilization or inconsistent with a republican form of government.
The declaration of the convention against " all combinations of
capital, organized in trusts or otherwise, to control arbitrarily the
condition of trade among our citizens, " is in harmony with the
views entertained and publicly expressed by me long before the
assembling of the convention. Ordinarily, capital shares the losses
of idleness with labor ; but under the operation of the trust, in
some of its forms, the wageworker alone suffers loss, while idle
capital receives its dividends from a trust fund. Producers who
refuse, to join the combination are destroyed, and competition as
an element of prices is eliminated. It cannot be doubted that the
legislative authority should and will find a method of dealing fairly
and effectively with those and other abuses connected with this
subject.
It can hardly be necessary for me to say that I am heartily in
sympathy writh the declaration of the convention upon the subject
of pensions to our soldiers and sailors. What they gave and what
they suffered I had some opportunity to observe, and, in a small
measure, to experience. They gave ungrudgingly ; it was not a
trade, but an offering. The measure was heaped up, running over.
What they achieved only a. distant generation can adequately tell.
Without attempting to discuss particular propositions, I may add
that measures in behalf of the surviving veterans of the war and of
the families of their dead comrades should be conceived and ex-
ecuted in a spirit of justice and of the most grateful liberality, and
that, in the competition for civil appointments, honorable military
service should have appropriate recognition.
The law regulating appointments to the classified civil service
received my support in the Senate in the belief that it opened the
way to a much-needed reform. I still think so, and, therefore,
cordially approve the clear and forcible expression of the conven-
tion upon this subject. The law should have the aid of a friendly
8
114 HARRISONS SPEECHES.
interpretation and be faithfully and vigorously enforced. All ap-
pointments under it should be absolutely free from partisan con-
siderations and influence. Some extensions of the classified list
are practicable and desirable, and further legislation extending the
reform to other brandies of the service to which it is applicable
would receive my approval. In appointment to every grade and
department, fitness, and not party service, should be the essential
and discriminating test, and fidelity and efficiency the only sure"
tenure of office. Only the interests of the public service should sug-
gest removals from office. I know the practical difficulties attend-
ing the attempt to apply the spirit of the civil service rules to all
appointments and removals. It will, however, be my sincere pur-
pose, if elected, to advance the reform.
I notice with pleasure that the convention did not omit to
express its solicitude for the promotion of virtue and temperance
among our people. The Republican party has always been friendly
to everything that tended to make the home life of our people free,
pure, and prosperous, and will in the future be true to its history
in this respect.
Our relations with foreign powers should be characterized by
friendliness and respect. The right of our people and of our ships
to hospitable treatment should be insisted upon with dignity and
firmness. Our Nation is too great, both in material strength and
in moral power to indulge in bluster or to be suspected of timer -
ousness. Vacillation and inconsistency are as incompatible with
successful diplomacy as they are with the national dignity. We
should especially cultivate and extend our diplomatic and commer-
cial relations with the Central and South American States. Our
fisheries should be fostered and protected. The hardships and
risks that are the necessary incidents of the business should not
be increased by an inhospitable exclusion from the near-lying ports.
The resources of a firm dignified, and consistent diplomacy are un-
doubtedly equal to the prompt and peaceful solution of the difficul-
ties that now exist. Our neighbors will surely not expect in our
ports a commercial hospitality they deny to us in theirs.
I cannot extend this letter by a special reference to other subjects
upon which the convention gave an expression.
In respect to them, as well as to those I have noticed, I am in
entire agreement with the declarations of the convention. The
resolutions relating to the coinage, to the rebuilding of the navy,
to coast defences, and to public lands, express conclusions to all of
which I gave my support in the Senate.
Inviting a calm and thoughtful consideration of these public
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 115
questions, we submit them to the people. Their intelligent patriot-
ism and the good Providence that made and has kept us a Nation
will lead them to wise and safe conclusions.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
BENJAMIN HARRISON.
CLAYTON, IND. , SEPTEMBER 13.
Reunion of the Seventieth Indiana Regiment.
GENERAL HARRISON, accompanied by Mrs. Harrison
and Mrs. McKee, on September 13 attended the four-
teenth reunion of the Seventieth Indiana Regimental Asso-
ciation at Clayton village, Hendricks County.
The Seventieth Regiment was recruited from the coun-
ties of Hendricks, Johnson and Marion. Of the one hun-
dred and fifty-nine regiments sent to the front by Indiana,
but few, if any, achieved a more honorable and distin-
guished record. It was the first regiment to report for
duty under President Lincoln's call of July, '62, and was
recruited in less than a month by Second Lieutenant
Benjamin Harrison.
After the regiment had been recruited Lieutenant Harri-
son was elected Captain of Company A, and when the
regiment was organized, August 7, 1862, Captain Harrison
was commissioned its colonel. It left Indianapolis for
the front August 13, 1862, and returned thirty-four months
later, with a loss of 189 men. It participated in eleven
engagements, including Resaca, Kenesaw, Marietta, Peach
Tree Creek, Atlanta, Savannah and Bentonville. The regi-
ment was a part of Sherman's army, and was attached
to the First Brigade, Third Division, Twentieth Corps.
For several years past General Harrison has been succes-
sively chosen President of the Regimental Association.
Several hundred veterans, with their families, accom-
panied the General from Indianapolis, and were greeted at
Clayton by five thousand people. Three hundred veter-
ans of the Seventieth saluted their Colonel as he walked
110 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
to the front and, assuming command, led the column
to a neighboring grove, where the exercises of the day
were held. It was the largest reunion in the history
of the Association. Among the prominent non-resident
members in attendance were Lieutenant-Colonel James
Burghs, of Topeka; Capt. Wm. M. Meredith, Chicago (he
was captain of Company E, the color company of the regi-
ment) ; Captain Tansey, now Judge, of "Winfield, Kansas ;
Captain Willis Record, of Nebraska ; Lieutenant Harden-
brook and Private Snow, of Kansas, and Cyrus Butter-
field, of Minneapolis. The orator of the day was Comrade
J.M. Brown.
General Harrison, as President of the Association, pre-
sided. The proceedings were opened with prayer by Com-
rade J.H. Meteer, followed by an address of welcome by
Miss Mary L. Mitchell, daughter of Captain W. C.
Mitchell, who directed her closing remarks to General Har-
rison.
With great earnestness the General replied as follows :
Miss Mitchell — I feel quite incompetent to discharge the duty that
now devolves upon me — that of making suitable response to the
touching, cordial and sympathetic words which you have addressed
to us. We thank you and the good citizens of Clayton, for whom
you have spoken, that you have opened your hearts so fully to us
to-day. I am sure we have never assembled under circumstances
more attractive than those that now surround us. The mellow sun-
shine of this autumn-time that falls upon us, the balmy air which
moves the leaves of those shadowing trees, the sweet calm and spell
of nature that is over everything, makes the day one of those that
may be described in the language of the old poet as
"A bridal of the earth and sky."
Your hospitable welcome makes us feel at home, and in behalf
of this large representation of our regiment, possibly the largest
that has assembled since the close of the war, gathered not only
from these adjacent counties, but from distant homes beyond the
Mississippi and the Missouri, I give you to-day in return our
mcst hearty thanks for your great kindness.
The autumn-time is a fit time for our gathering, for our spring-
time is gone. It was in the spring-time of our lives that we heard
HARRISON' ,S XPJKKCHKN. 117
onr country's call. Full of vigor and youth and patriotism, we
responded to it. The exhaustion of march and camp and battle, and
the civil strife of the years that have passed since the close of the
war, have left their marks upon us, and, as we gather from year
to year, we notice the signs of advancing age, and the roster of
our dead is lengthened. We are reminded by the minutes of our
last meeting, that have been read, of the presence at our last reunion
of that faithful and beloved officer who went out from this county,
Major Reagan. With a prophetic instinct of what was before him,
he told us then that it was probably the last time that he should
gather with us. God has verified the thought that was in his mind,
and that simple, true-hearted, brave comrade has been enrolled
with the larger company. WTe are glad to-day to be together, yet
our gladness is sobered. As 1 look into those familiar faces I notice
a deep sense of satisfaction, but I have not failed to observe that
there are tears in many eyes. We are not moved to tears by any
sense of regret that we gave some service to our country and to its
flag, but only by the sense that we are not all here to-day, and
that all who are here will never gather again in a meeting like
this. We rejoice that we were permitted to make some contribu-
tion to the glory and credit and perpetuity of the Nation we love.
[Applause.]
Comrades who served under other regimental flags and who have
gathered here with us to-day, we do not boast of higher motives or
greater service than yours. We welcome you to a participation in
our reunion. We fully acknowledge that you had a full — possibly
a fuller — share than we in the great achievements of the war. We
claim only this for the Seventieth Indiana — that we went into the
service with the full purpose to respond to every order [cries of
"That's so!"], and that we never evaded a fight or turned our backs
to the enemy. [Applause.] We are not here to exalt ourselves,
but I cannot omit to say that a purer, truer self-consecration to
the flag and country was never offered than by you and your dead
comrades who, in 1862, mustered for the defence of the Union.
[Applause.]
It was not in the heyday of success, it was not under the impres-
sion that sixty days would end the war, that you were mustered.
It was when the clouds hung low and disasters were thick. Buell
was returning from the Tennessee, Kirby Smith coming through
Cumberland Gap, and McClellan had been defeated on the Penin-
sula. It seemed as if the frown of God was on our cause. It was
then, in that hour of stress, that you pledged your hearts and lives
to the country [applause] , in the sober realization that the war was
118 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
a desperate one, in which thousands were to die. We are glad that
God has spared us to see the magnificent development and increase
in strength and honor which has come to us as a Nation, and in
the glory that has been woven into the flag we love. [Great
applause.] We are glad that with most of us the struggle in life
has not left us defeat, if it has not crowned us with the highest
successes. We are veterans and yet citizens, pledged, each accord-
ing to his own conscience and thought, to do that which will best
promote the glory of our country and best conserve and set in our
public measures those patriotic thoughts and purposes that took us
into the war. [Applause. ] It is my wish to-day that every rela-
tion I occupy to the public or to a political party might be abso-
lutely forgotten [cries of ''Good! good!"], and that I might for
this day, among these comrades, be thought of only as a comrade —
your old Colonel. [Great applause. ]
Nothing has given me more pleasure on this occasion than to
notice, as I passed through your streets, so beautifully and so taste-
fully decorated, that the poles that have been reared by the great
parties were intertwined [applause] — and now I remind myself
that I am not the orator of this occasion [cries of "Go on !"], but its
presiding officer. The right discharge of that duty forbids much
talking.
Comrades of the Seventieth Indiana, comrades of all these asso-
ciated regiments, I am glad to meet you. Nothing shall sever that
bond, I hope. Nothing that I shall ever say, nothing that I shall
ever do, will weaken it. And now, if you will permit me again
to acknowledge the generous hospitality of this community, and
in your behalf to return them our most sincere thanks, I will close
these remarks and proceed with the programme which has been
provided.
General Harrison was unanimously re-elected President
of the Association, Colonel Samuel Merrill Vice-President,
M. G. McLean Secretary, Major James L. Mitchell
Treasurer.
When the motion was put by one of the veterans on the
adoption of the report re-electing General Harrison to the
presidency of the Association, the veterans answered with
a " Yea" that brought cheer upon cheer from the crowd.
General Harrison, visibly affected, simply said : " I
feel myself crowned again to-day by this evidence of com-
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 119
radeship of the old soldiers of the Seventieth Indiana."
[Cheers.]
On his return from Clayton, General Harrison was
visited at his residence by fifty veterans of Potter Post,
G. A. R., Sycamore, 111., en route home from the Columbus
encampment. They were introduced by General E. F.
Button, colonel of the One Hundred and Fifth Illinois In-
fantry, and commander of the Second Brigade, Third Di-
vision of the Twentieth Army Corps.
INDIANAPOLIS, SEPTEMBER 14.
ALL trains arriving from the East this day brought large
delegations of homeward-bound veterans from the Colum-
bus, Ohio, encampment. The first to arrive was one
hundred veterans of Ransom Post, St. Louis — General Sher-
man's Post — who were introduced by Col. Murphy. Gen-
eral Harrison, responding to their greeting, said :
Comrades — I esteem it a pleasure to be able to associate with you
by the use of that form of address. I know of no human organiza-
tion that can give a better reason for its existence than the Grand
Army of the Republic. [Cries of "Good!"] It needs no 'argu-
ment to justify it, it stands unassailable, and admits of no criti-
cism from any quarter. Its members have rendered that service to
their country in war, and they maintain now, in peace, that honor-
able, courageous citizenship that entitles them to every patriot's
respect. I thank you for this visit, and will be glad if you will
now allow me to welcome you to my home.
In the afternoon the streets of Indianapolis were over-
flowing with marching veterans from Illinois, Minnesota,
Missouri, Wisconsin, and Kansas, headed by the National
Drum Corps of Minneapolis, and commanded by Depart-
ment Commander Col. James A. Sexton, of Chicago, and a
brilliant staff. The great column passed through the city
out to the Harrison residence. Conspicuous at the head of
the line marched the distinguished Governor of Wiscon-
120 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
sin, General Jere M. Rusk, surrounded by his staff of
seventeen crippled veterans, among whom were Capt. E.
G. Fimme, Secretary of State of Wisconsin ; Col. H. B.
Harshaw, State Treasurer; C. E. Estabrook, Attorney-
General; Philip Cheek, Insurance Commissioner; Col. H.
P. Fischer, Maj. J. R. Curran, Maj. F. L. Phillips, Maj.
F. H. Conse; Captains W. W. Jones, H. W. Lovejoy, and
W. H. McFarland. Eighty members of the Woman's
Relief Corps accompanied the veterans, and were given
positions of honor at the reception. When General Harri-
son appeared he was tendered an ovation. Governor Rusk
said : " Comrades — I consider it both an honor and a pleas-
ure in introducing to you the President of the United
States for the next eight years — General Benjamin Harri-
son." [Cheers.]
General Harrison responded as follows :
Governor Rusk, Comrades of the Grand Army, and Ladies — I did
not suppose that the Constitution of our country would be sub-
jected to so serious a fracture by the executive of one of our great
States. [Laughter.] Four years is the constitutional term of the
President. [Laughter. ] I am glad to see you ; I return your friendly
greetings most heartily. Your association is a most worthy one.
As I said to some comrades who visited me this morning, it has
the best reason for its existence of any human organization that I
know of. [Applause.] • I am glad to know that your recent en-
campment at Columbus was so largely attended, and was in all its
circumstances so magnificent a success. The National Encamp-
ment of the G. A.R. is an honor to any city. The proudest may
well array itself in its best attire to welcome the Union veterans
of the late war. In these magnificent gatherings, so impressive in
numbers and so much more impressive in the associations they
revive, there is a great teaching force. If it is worthwhile to build
monuments to heroism and patriotic sacrifice that may stand as
dumb yet eloquent instructors of the generation that is to come, so
it is worth while that these survivors of the war assemble in their
national encampments and inarch once more, unarmed, through
the streets of our cities, whose peace and prosperity they have
secured. [Applause.]
Every man and every woman should do them honor. We have a
body of citizen soldiers instructed in tactics and strategy and ac-
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 121
customed to the points of war that make this Nation very strong
and formidable. I well remember that even in the second year of
the war instructors in tactics were rare in our own camps. They
are very numerous now. [Laughter.] Yet, while this Nation was
never so strong in a great instructed, trained body of veteran
soldiers, I think it was never more strongly smitten with the love
of peace. The man that would rather fight than eat has not sur-
vived the last war. [Laughter. ] He was laid away in an early
grave or enrolled on the list of deserters. But he would be mis-
taken who supposes that all the hardships of the war — its cruel, hard
memories — would begin to frighten those veterans from the front
if the flag was again assailed or the national security or dignity
imperilled. [Applause and cries of "You are right!"] The war
was also an educator in political economy.
These veterans, who saw how the poverty of the South in the
development of her manufacturing interests paralyzed the skill of
her soldiers and the generalship of her captains, have learned to
esteem and value our diversified manufacturing interests. [Ap-
plause. ] You know that woollen mills and flocks would have been
more valuable to the Confederacy than battalions ; that foundries
and arsenals and skilled mechanical labor was the great lack of the
Confederacy. You have learned that lesson so well that you will
not wish our rescued country, by any fatal free-trade policy, to be
brought to a like condition. [Applause and cries of "Good!
good !"] And now, gentlemen, I had a stipulation that I was not
to speak at all. [Laughter.] You will surely allow me now to
stop this formal address, and to welcome my comrades to our home.
[Applause. ]
INDIANAPOLIS, SEPTEMBER 15.
GENERAL HARRISON held three receptions this date.
The first was tendered the Scott Rifles of Kansas City, all
members of the G. A. R., en route home from the Colum-
bus encampment. They wore the regulation blue uniform
and carried muskets. Captain Brant introduced his com-
pany, stating that in bringing their arms with them " they
did not intend to do General Harrison any violence." The
General responded :
Captain and Comrades — I did not need to be assured that comrades
of the Grand Army, whether bearing arms or not, brought iiMe no
122 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
peril. No loyal and orderly citizen will mistrust their friendliness.
The people of Indiana will not ask that you procure any permit or
give bond to keep the peace before passing through this loyal State
with arms in your hands.
I am especially complimented by the visit of this organized com-
pany of the Missouri militia, composed wholly of Union veterans.
It gives evidence that those who served in the Civil War are still
watchful of the honor and safety of our country and its flag ; that
our Government may rest with security upon the defence which
our citizen -soldiers offer.
And now, without alluding at all to any topic of partisan in-
terest, I bid you welcome, and will be pleased to have a personal
introduction to each of you, if that is your pleasure.
The second reception was extended to a delegation of
twelve hundred workingmen from New Albany, Floyd
County, organized into political clubs, among whose leaders
were Walter B. Godfrey, M. V. Mallory, Geo. B. Cardwell,
M. M. Hurley, W. A. Maynor, Andrew Fite, Chas. R.
Clarke, J. W. Edmonson. L. L. Pierce, Horace Brown, N".
D. Morris, T. W. Armstrong, D. C. Anthony, John Halm,
R. E. Burke, Albert Hopkins, F. D. Connor, Frank Norton,
M. McDonald, M. H. Sparks, W. H. Russell, J. N. Peyton,
Daniel Prosser, Geo. Roberts, and G. H. Pennington. A
band of G. A. R. veterans from far-off Texas happened
to be present at the reception, among them Col. J. C. De
Gress, Win. Long, John Herman, S. C. Slade, W. H. Nye,
W. H. Tuttle, Geo. A. Knight, and Dr. S. McKay. James
A. Atkinson, a glassblower of the De Pauw works at New
Albany, delivered an able address on behalf of the visitors.
General Harrison responded as follows :
My Felloiv- citizens— There is something very distinctive, very
interesting, and very instructive in this large delegation of work-
ingmen from the city of New Albany Your fellow- workman
and spokesman has so eloquently presented that particular issue
upon which you have the greatest interest that I can add nothing
to the force or conclusiveness of his argument. He has said that
the interests of the workingmen were especially involved in the
pending political contest. I think that is conceded even by our
political opponents. I do not think there is a man so dull or so
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 123
unfair as to deny that the reduction of our tariff rates so as to
destroy the principle of protection now embodied in our laws will
have an influence on your wages and on the production of your
mills and factories. If this be true, then your interest in the ques-
tion is apparent. You will want to know whether the influence
of the proposed reduction of rates is to be beneficial or hurtful ;
whether the effect will be to stimulate or diminish production ;
whether it will be to maintain or increase the rate of wages you
are now receiving, or to reduce them. As you shall settle these
questions, so will you vote in November. [Applause.]
No man can doubt that a reduction of duties will stimulate the
importation of foreign merchandise. None of these plate-glass
workers can doubt that a reduction of the duty upon plate -glass
will increase the importation of French plate-gla,ss.
None of these workers in your woollen mills can doubt that the
reduction of the duty upon the product of their mills will increase
the importation of foreign woollen goods.
And, if that is true, is it not also clear that this increased im-
portation of foreign-made goods means some idle workingmen in
your mills? The party that favors such discriminating duties as
will develop American production and secure the largest amount
of work for our American shops is the party whose policy will pro-
mote your interests. [Applause and cries of " Hit him again !"]
I have heard it said by some leaders of Democratic thought that
the reduction proposed by the Mills bill, and the further reduction
which some of them are candid enough to admit they contemplate,
will stimulate American production by opening foreign markets
and that the interests of our Indiana manufacturing establishments
would thus be promoted. But those who advance thi argument
also say that it will not do to progress too rapidly in the direction
of free trade — that we must go slowly, because our protected indus-
tries cannot stand too rapid an advance ; it would not be safe.
[Laughter.] Now, my countrymen, if this plan of revenue reform
is to be promotive of our manufacturing interests, why go slowly?
Why not open the gates wide and let us have the promised good
all at once? [Laughter and applause.]
Is it that these philosophers think the cup of prosperity will be
so sw^eet and full that our laboring people cannot be allowed to
drink it at one draught? [Applause and cries of "Good! good!"]
No, my countrymen, this statement implies what these gentlemen
know to be true — that the effect of the proposed legislation is
diminished production and diminished wages, and they desire that
you shall have an opportunity to get used to it. [Applause.] But
124 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
I cannot press this discussion further. I want to thank you for
the cordial things you have said to me by him who has spoken for
you. I trust, and have always trusted, the intelligence and con-
science of our working people. [Applause.]
They will inevitably find out the truth, and when they find it
they will justify it. Therefore, there are many things that have
been said to which I have not and shall not allude while this con-
test is on. They are with you : the truth is accessible to you, and
you will find it. Now, thanking you most heartily for the personal
respect you have evidenced, and congratulating you upon your
intelligent devotion to that great American system which has
spread a sky of hope above you and your children, I bid you good-
by. [Cheers. ]
The crowning event of the day was the reception of
several hundred members of the Irish- American Republi-
can Club of Cook County and Chicago. The visitors were
met by the Home Irish- American Protection Club, Patrick
A. Ward, President, assisted by the Columbia Club and
several thousand citizens. Their demonstration was one
of the most notable of the campaign. This club was the
first political organization in the country to congratulate
General Harrison on his nomination. The evening of
June 25 the club met and adopted the following, which
was telegraphed the General :
The Irish-American Republican Club of Cook County, Illinois,
congratulate you and the country upon your nomination. We
greet the gallant soldier and true American, and rejoice with our
fellow- citizens of every nationality in the glad assurance your
nomination gives that the industries of our country will be pro-
tected and the honor of the Nation maintained with the same
courage and devotion that distinguished you on the bloody field of
Resaca. We salute the next President of the Republic.
NATHAN P. BRADY, President.
Leaders of the delegation were Hon. John F. Finerty,
F. J. Gleason, Dennis Ward, Richard Powers, and Messrs.
Russell and O' Morey. Thomas F. Byron, of Lowell,
Mass., founder of the Land League in America, accom-
panied the club. In the absence of President Brady their
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 125
spokesman was Mr. John F. Beggs. General Harrison
delivered one of his happiest responses. He said :
Mr. Beggs and my Friends of the Irish -American Republican Chib
of Cook County, III. — You were Irishmen, you are Americans
[cheers] — Irish- Americans [continued cheering], and though you
have given the consecrated loyalty of your honest hearts, to the
starry flag and your adopted country, you have not and you ought
not to forget to love and venerate the land of your nativity.
[Great applause.] If you could forget Ireland, if you could be un-
moved by her minstrelsy, untouched by the appeals of her splendid
oratory, unsympathetic with her heroes and martyrs, I should fear
that the bonds of your new citizenship would have no power over
hearts so cold and consciences so dead. [Cheers. ]
What if a sprig of green were found upon the bloody jacket of a
Union soldier who lay dead on Missionary Ridge? The flag he
died for was his flag and the green was only a memory and an
inspiration.
We, native or Irish born, join with the Republican convention
in the hope that the cause of Irish home rule, progressing under
the leadership of Gladstone and Parnell [cheers] upon peaceful
and lawful lines, may yet secure for Ireland that which as Ameri-
cans we so much value— local home rule. [Cheering. ] I am sure
that you who have, in your own persons or in your worthy repre-
sentatives, given such convincing evidence of your devotion to the
American Constitution and flag and to American institutions will
not falter in this great civil contest which your spokesman has so
fittingly described. Who, if not Irish -Americans versed in the
sad story of the commercial ruin of the island they love, should be
instructed in the beneficent influence of a protective tariff? [Con-
tinuous cheering.] Who, if not Irish- Americans should be able
to appreciate the friendly influences of the protective system upon
their individual and upon their home life? Which of you has not
realized that not the lot of man only, but the lot of woman, has
been made softer and easier under its influence? [Applause and
'' Hear ! hear !"] Contrast the American mother and wife, burdened
only with the cares of motherhood and of the household, with the
condition of women in many of the countries of the Old World,
where she is loaded also with the drudgery of toil in the field.
[Applause. ]
I know that none more than Irishmen, who are so characterized
by their deference for women, and whose women have so fitly
illustrated that which is pure in female character, will value this
126 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
illustration of the good effects of our American system upon the
home life. [Continued applause. ]
There are nations across the sea who are hungry for the Ameri-
can market. They are waiting with eager expectation for the
adoption of a free- trade policy by the United States. [Cries of
"That will never happen!"] The English manufacturer is per-
suaded that an increased market for English goods in America is
good for him, but I think it will be impossible to persuade the
American producer and the American workman that it is good for
them. [Applause and cries of " That's right !"] I believe that social
order, that national prosperity, are bound up in the preservation
of our existing policy. [Loud cheering and cries of ''You are
right!"] I do not believe that a republic can live and prosper
whose wage -earners do not receive enough to make life comfort-
able, who do not have some upward avenues of hope open before
them. When the wage-earners of the land lose hope, when the star
goes out, social order is impossible, and after that anarchy or the
Czar. [Cheering. ]
I gratefully acknowledge the compliment of your call, and exceed-
ingly regret that the storm without made it impossible for me to
receive you at my house. [Applause and cries of " Thanks !
thanks !"] I will now be glad to take each member of your club
by the hand. [Continued cheering.]
INDIANAPOLIS, SEPTEMBER 18.
GENERAL HARRISON'S callers to-day numbered about
five thousand, over half of whom came from Vermilion
County, Illinois, led by a company of young ladies, in
uniform, from the town of Sidell. Hon. Samuel Stansbury
of Danville was Marshal of the delegation, aided by E. C.
Boudinot, D. G. Moore, Chas. A. Allen, J. G. Thompson,
and W. C. Cowan. Col. W. R. Jewell, editor Danville
Daily Neius, was spokesman. General Harrison, in re-
sponse, said:
My Illinois Friends — The people of your State were very early in
giving evidence to our people and to me that they are deeply and
generally interested in this campaign. I welcome you and accept
your coming as evidence that the early interest you manifested has
suffered no abatement. It was not an impulse that stirred you.
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 127
but a deep conviction that matters of great and lasting consequence
to your country are involved in this campaign. Your representa-
tive in Congress, Hon. Joseph Cannon, is well known in Indiana.
[Applause.] I have known him for many years; have observed
his conduct in the National Congress, and always with admiration.
He is a fearless, aggressive, honest Republican leader. [Applause
and cries of " Good ! good !"] He is worthy of the favor and con-
fidence you have shown him.
If some one were to ask to-day, "What is the matter with the
United States?" [laughter and cries of "She's all right!"] I am
sure we would hear some Democratic friend respond, "Its people
are oppressed and impoverished by tariff taxation. " [Laughter. ]
Ordinarily our people can be trusted to know when they are taxed ;
but this Democratic friend will tell us that the tariff tax is so in-
sidious that our people pay it without knowing it. That is a very
unhappy condition, indeed. But his difficulties are not all sur-
mounted when he has convinced his hearers that a customs duty is
a tax, for history does not run well with his statement that our
people have been impoverished by our tariff system. Another
answer to your question will be perhaps that there is now a great
surplus in the Treasury — he will probably not state the figures,
for there seems to be a painful uncertainty about that. I have
sometimes thought that this surplus was held chiefly to be talked
about. The laws provide a use for it that would speedilj' place it
in circulation. If a business man finds an accumulated surplus
that he does not need in his business, that stands as a bank balance
and draws no interest, and if he has notes outside to mature in the
future he will make a ready choice between leaving his balance in
the bank and using it to take up his obligations. [Applause.]
But in our national finances the other choice has been made, and
this surplus remains in the national bank without interest, while
our bonds, which, under the law, might be retired by the use of
it, continue to draw interest.
You have a great agricultural State. Its prairies offer the most
tempting invitation to the settler. I have heard it suggested that
one reason why you have outstripped Indiana in population was
because the men who were afraid of the "deadening" passed over us
to seek your treeless plains. [Applause. ] But you have not been
contented to be only an agricultural community. You have de-
veloped your manufactures and mechanical industries until now,
if my recollection is not at fault, for every two persons engaged in
agricultural labor you have one engaged in manufacturing, in the
mechanical arts and mining. It is this subdivision of labor, these
US HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
diversified industries, that make Illinois take rank so near the head
among the States. By this home interchange of the products of the
farm and shop, made possible by our protective system, Illinois has
been able to attain her proud position in the union of the States.
Shall \ve continue a policy that has wrought so marvellously since
the 'war in the development of all those States that have given
hospitable access to manufacturing capital and to the brawn and
skill of the workingman? [Cries of "Good ! good !" and cheers.]
From Louisville, Ky., came 1,000 enthusiastic visi-
tors, led by the Hon. Wm. E. Riley, Hon. R. R. Glover,
Hon. Albert Scott, W. W. Huffman, W. M. Collins, M.
E. Malone, and J. J. Jonson. A. E. Willson, of Louisville,
delivered a stirring address on behalf of the Republicans
of Kentucky, to which General Harrison responded as
follows :
My Kentucky Friends — There have been larger delegations as-
sembled about this platform, but there has been none that has in a
higher degree attracted my interest or touched my heart. [Ap-
plause.] It has been quite one thing to be a Republican in
Illinois and quite another to be a Republican in Kentucky.
[Applause. ] Not the victors only in a good fight deserve a crown ;
those who fight well and are beaten and fight again, as you
have done, deserve a crown, though victory never yet has perched
on your banner. [A voice, "It will perch there, though, don't you
forget it !''] Yes, it wrill come, for the bud of victory is always in
the truth. I will not treat you to-day to any statistics from the
census reports [laughter] , nor enter the attractive field of the history
of your great State. I have believed that these visiting delegations
were always well advised as to the history and statistics of their
respective States. [Laughter. ] If this trust has been misplaced in
other cases, certainly Kentuckians can be trusted to remember and
perhaps to tell all that is noble in the thrilling history of their great
State. [Great applause. ] Your history is very full of romantic
and thrilling adventure and of instances of individual heroism.
Your people have always been proud, chivalric, and brave. In the
late war for the Union, spite of all distraction and defection,
Kentucky stood by the old flag. [Applause.] And now that the
war is over and its bitter memory is forgotten, there is not one,
I hope, in all your borders, wTho does not bless the outcome of that
great struggle. [Applause.] Surely there are none in Kentucky
who do not rejoice that the beautiful river is not a river of di-
HARRISONS SPEECHES. 129
vision. [Great applause.] And now what hinders that Kentucky
shall step forward in the great industrial rivalry between the
States? Is there not, as your spokesman has suggested, in the
eai'ly and thorough instruction which the people of Kentucky
received from the mouth of your matchless orator, Henry Clay
[applause] , a power that shall yet and speedily bring back Ken-
tucky to the support of our protective system? [Applause.] Can
the old Whigs, who so reverently received from the lips of Clay
the gospel of protection, much longer support a revenue policy that
they know to be inimical to our national interests? If when Ken-
tucky was a slave State she found a protective tariff promoted the
prosperity of her people, what greater things will the same policy
not do for her as a free State? She has now opened her hospitable
doors to skilled labor ; her coal and metals and hemp invite its
transforming touch. Why should she not speedily find great manu-
facturing cities spring up in her beautiful valleys? Shall any old
prejudice spoil this hopeful vision ? [Great applause. ] I remember
that Kentucky agitated for seven years and held nine conventions
before she secured a separate statehood. May I not appeal to the
children of those brave settlers who, when but few in number,
composed of distant and feeble settlements, were received into the
Union of States, to show their chivalry and love of justice by unit-
ing with us in the demand that Dakota and Washington shall be
admitted? [Applause. ] Does not your own story shame those who
represent you in the halls of Congress and who bar the door against
communities whose numbers and resources so vastly outreach what
you possessed when you were admitted to statehood? We look
hopefully to Kentucky. The State of Henry Clay and Abraham
Lincoln [enthusiastic cheering] cannot be much longer forgetful
[cries of "No! no!"] of the teachings of those great leaders of
thought.
I believe that Kentucky will place herself soon upon the side of
the truth upon these great questions. [A voice, "We believe it!"
Another voice, "We will keep them out of Indiana, anyhow !"
Great cheering.] Thank you. There is no better way that I
know of to keep one detachment of an army from re- enforcing
another than by giving that detachment all it can do in its own
field. [Applause and laughter.]
The last visitors of the day were 200 delegates, in attend-
ance upon the sessions of the National Association of Union
Ex-Prisoners of War. They were led by Gen. W. H.
Powell, of Belleville, Iowa, President of the Association ;
130 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
E. H. Williams, of Indianapolis, Vice-President ; Chap-
lain C. C. McCabe, New York City; Historian Frank E.
Moran, Philadelphia; President-elect Thomas H. McKee
and Secretary L. P. Williams, Washington, D. C. ; S. N.
Long, of New Jersey,and J. W. Green, of Ohio. Every one
of the visiting veterans had undergone imprisonment at
Andersonville, Libby, or some less noted Southern prison.
Conspicuous among them was Gen. B. F. Kelly, of Vir-
ginia, the first Union officer wounded in the rebellion, and
J. A. January, of Illinois, who amputated both his own
feet while in Libby Prison, to prevent gangrene spreading.
General Powell, in a brief address, touchingly referred to
the perils and hardships they had survived. General
Harrison was greatly affected by the scene — the veterans
grouped closely about him in his own house. He paused
a moment in silence, then in a low, sympathetic voice,
said:
General Powell and Comrades — I am always touched when I meet
either with those who stood near about me in the service, or those
who shared the general comradeship of the war, It seems to me
that the wild exhilaration which in the earlier reunions we often
saw is very much sobered as we come together now. I have
realized in meeting with my own regiment this fall that it was
a time when one felt the touches of the pathetic. And yet there
was a glow of satisfaction in being together again and in thinking
of what was and what is. The annals of the war fail to furnish
a sadder story than that of the host of Union veterans who suffered
war's greatest hardship— captivity. The story of the rebel prison
pens was one of grim horror. In the field our armies, always
brave, were generally always chivalric and humane. But the treat-
ment of the captured Union soldiers surpassed in fiendish cruelty
the best achievements of the savage. It is the black spot without
any lining of silver or any touch of human nature. But you have
cause for congratulation that you have been spared to the glory and
prosperity that your services and sufferings have brought to the
Nation. The most vivid imagination has drawn no picture of the
full meaning to our people and to the world of these simple
words— we saved the Union, perpetuated free government, and
abolished slavery. [Prolonged applause.]
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 131
INDIANAPOLIS, SEPTEMBER 19.
FIVE delegations paid their respects to the Republican
nominee this day. The first was sixty veterans of the
Seventh Indiana Cavalry — General J. P. Shanks' old
regiment. Colonel Lewis Reeves, of Mentone, InxL, made
the address on behalf of the veterans, to which General
Harrison responded :
Comrades — I recall the services of your gallant regiment. I
welcome you as men who had as honorable a part in the great
achievements of the Union army as any in the Civil War. I con-
gratulate you that you have been spared to see the fruits of your
labors and sacrifices. In these meetings the thought of those who
did not live to see the end of the bloody struggle is always present.
Their honor also is in our keeping. I am glad to know that at
last in our State a shaft is being lifted to the honor of the Indiana
soldier. It will not only keep alive a worthy memory, but it will
instil patriotism into our children. I thank you for this friendly
visit. [Cheers. ]
From Illinois came two large delegations — that from
Iroquois County numbering 1,000, commanded by Chief
Marshal Slattery, of Onargo. A Tippecanoe club of vet-
erans headed their column, led by Chairman Owen,
followed by the John A. Logan Club, commanded by Capt.
A. L. Whitehall. Prominent in the delegation were State
Senator Secrist, Judge S. G. Bovie, B. F. Price, J. F. Ire-
land, A. Powell, James Woodworth, G. B. Joiner, W. M.
Coney, Dr. J. H. Gillam, Dr. Scull, editors E. A. ]STye and
M. S. Taliaferro, of Watseka; also W. H. Howe, of Braid-
wood, father of the " Drummer Boy of Vicksburg. " Robert
Meredith, of Onargo, spoke on behalf of the colored mem-
bers or the delegation, and Capt. R. W. Hilscher, of Wat-
seka, for the veterans. La Porte County, Ind., was repre-
sented by a large delegation, the Michigan City detach-
ment commanded by Major Biddle, Uriah Culbert, and
132 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
Major Wood. The Laporte City clubs were led by Wm. C.
Weir, Marshal of the delegation. Other prominent mem-
bers were S. M. Closser, W. C. Miller, Frank E. Osborn,
J. N. Whitehead, M. L. Bramhall, Nelson Larzen, Sam-
uel Bagley, Brook Travis, Wm. Hastings, S. A. Rose,
Swan Peterson, and editor Sonneborn. The presentation
address was made by Col. J. W. Crtimpacker, of
Laporte.
To these several addresses General Harrison responded :
My Illinois and my Indiana Friends — If I needed any stimulus
to duty, or to have my impression of the dignity and responsibility
of representative office increased, I should find it in such assemblies
as these and in the kind and thoughtful words which have been
addressed to me in your behalf. The American people under our
system of government have their public interests in their own keep-
ing. All laws and proclamations may be revoked or repealed by
them. They will be called on in November to mark out the revenue
policy for our Government by choosing public officers pledged to the
principles which a majority of our people approve. Fortunately you
have now an issue very clearly drawn and very easy to be under-
stood. In previous campaigns we have not quite known where our
adversaries stood. Now we do know. Our Democratic friends
say a protective tariff is robbery. You see this written at the
head of campaign tracts circulated by their committees. You
hear it said in the public speeches of their leaders. You have
not once, I think, in the campaign heard any Democratic speaker
admit that even a low protective tariff was desirable. Those
who, like Mr. Randall, have in former campaigns been used to
allay the apprehension of our working people by talking pro-
tection have been silenced. On the other hand, the Republican
party declares by its platform and by its speakers that a pro-
tective tariff is wise and necessary. There is the issue. Make
your own choice. If you approve by your votes the doctrine that
a protective tariff is public robbery, you will expect your rep-
resentatives to stop this public robbery, and if they are faithful
they will do it ; not seven per cent, of it, but all of it. [Applause
and cries of "That's it!"] So that I beg you all to recollect that
you will vote this fall for or against the principle of protection.
You are invited to a feast of cheapness. You are promised foreign-
made goods at very low prices, and domestic competing goods, if
any are made, at the same low rates. But do not forget that the
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 133
spectre of low wages will also attend the feast. [Applause and
cries of "That's so!"] Inevitably, as certain as the night follows
the day, the adoption of this policy means lower wages. Choose,
then, and do not forget that this cheapening process may be pushed
so far as to involve the cheapening of human life and the loss of
human happiness. [Applause.]
And now a word about the surplus in the Treasury. Our Demo-
cratic friends did not know what else to do with it, and so they
have deposited it in certain national banks. The Government gets
no interest upon it, but it is loaned out by the banks to our citi-
zens at interest. Our income is more than our current expenses.
There is no authority for the Secretary of the Treasury to lend the
money, and so only three methods of dealing with it presented
themselves, under the law — first, to lock it up in the Treasury
vaults ; second, to deposit it in the banks without interest ; or, third,
to use it in the purchase of bonds not yet due. The objection to
the first method was that the withdrawal of so large a sum might
result in a monetary stringency ; the second obviated this objec-
tion by allowing the banks to put the money in circulation ; but
neither method resulted in any advantage to the Government.
As to it the money was dead ; only the banks received interest
for its use. By the third method the money would be returned to
the channels of trade and the Government would make 'the differ-
ence between the premium paid for the bond and the interest that
the bonds would draw if left outstanding until they matured. If
a Government bond at the market premium is a good investment
for a capitalist who is free to use his money as he pleases, can it
be bad finance for the Government, having money that it cannot
use in any other way, to use it in buying up its bonds? [Great
applause. ] It is not whether we will purposely raise money to
buy our bonds at a premium — no one would advise that — but will
we so use a surplus that we have on hand and cannot lawfully pay
out in any other way ? Do our Democratic friends propose to give
the banks the free use of it until our bonds mature, or do they propose
to reduce our annual income below our expenditure by a revision
of the tariff until this surplus is used, and then revise the tariff
again to restore the equilibriums? [Great applause.] I welcome
the presence to-day of these ladies of your households. We should
not forget that we have work ing- women in America. [Applause
and cries of " Good ! good !"] None more than they are interested
in this policy of protection which we advocate. If want and hard
conditions come into the home, the women bear a full share.
[Applause. ] And now I have been tempted to speak more at length
134 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
than I had intended. I thank you for this cordial manifestation
of your confidence and respect. [Cheers.]
The fourth delegation of the day came from Grundy
County, Illinois, headed by the Logan Club of Morris.
An enthusiastic member of this delegation was the vener-
able Geo. P. Augustine, of Braceville, 111., aged 77, who in
the summer of 1840 employed the boy " Jimmie" Garfield —
afterward President of the United States — to ride his
horses on the tow-path of the Ohio canal between Ports-
mouth and Cleveland. Hon. P. C. Hayes, of Morris, was
spokesman for the delegation. General Harrison said :
General Hayes and my Illinois Friends — I regret that your arrival
was postponed so long as to make it impossible for you to meet
with the other friends from your State who, a little while ago,
assembled about the platform. I thank you for the kind feelings
that prompted you to come, and for the generous things General
Hayes has said in your behalf. There is little that I can say and
little that I can appropriately do to promote the success of the Re-
publican principles. A campaign that enlists the earnest and active
co-operatibn of the individual voters will have a safe issue. I am
glad to see in your presence an evidence that in your locality this
individual interest is felt. [Applause.] But popular assemblies,
public debate, and conventions are all an empty mockery unless,
when the debate is closed, the election is so conducted that every
elector shall have an equal and full influence in determining the
result. That is our compact of government. [Cheers. ] I thank
you again for your great kindness, and it will now give me pleasure
to accede to the suggestion of General Hayes and take each of you
by the hand.
The fifth and last delegation of the day reached the
Harrison residence in the evening, and comprised 200
survivors of the Second and Ninth Indiana Cavalry
and the Twenty-sixth Indiana Infantry. Col. John A.
Bridgland, the old commander ot the Second Cavalry,
spoke on behalf of the veterans. General Harrison re-
plied :
Colonel Bridgland and Comrades — I am fast losing my faith in
men. [Laughter.] This morning a representative or two of this
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 135
regiment called upon me and made an arrangement that I should
receive you at this hour. It was expressly stipulated — though I
took no security [laughter] — that there should be no speech-making
at all. Now I find myself formally introduced to you and under
the necessity of talking to you. [Laughter. ] I am under so much
stress in this way, from day to day, that I am really getting to be
a little timid when I see a corporal's guard together anywhere, for
fear they will want a speech. [Laughter.] And even at home,
when I sit down at the table with my family, I have some appre-
hensions lest some one may propose a toast and insist that I shall
respond. [Laughter. ]
I remember that the Second Indiana Cavalry was the first full
cavalry regiment I ever saw. I saw it marching through Washing-
ton Street from the windows of my law office ; and as I watched
the long line drawing itself through the street, it seemed to me
the call for troops might stop ; that there were certainly enough
men and horses there to put down the rebellion. [Laughter.]
It is clear I did not rightly measure the capacities of a cavalry
regiment, or the dimensions of the rebellion. [Laughter.] lam
glad to see you here to-day. You come as soldiers, and I greet
you as comrades. I will not allude to political topics, on which
any of us might differ. [A voice, "There ain't any differ-
ences !"] Of course, the members of the Ninth Cavalry and the
Twenty -sixth Infantry must understand I am speaking to- all my
comrades. [A voice, "The Twenty-sixth were waiting for the
cavalry to get out of the way ! " Laughter. ] Well, during the
war you were willing to wait, weren't you? [Hearty laughter.]
I was going to say that I had an express promise from Mr. Adams,
of the Twenty-sixth Indiana, there should be no speaking on the
occasion of your visit. [Laughter. ] Perhaps his comrades of the
Twenty sixth will say I had not sufficient reason for so thinking,
as we all know that he is given to joking. [Laughter.] I will be
pleased now to meet each of you personally.
130 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
INDIANAPOLIS, SEPTEMBER 20.
ON September 20 a distinguished delegation arrived from
Cincinnati, for the purpose of inviting General and Mrs.
Harrison to attend the Cincinnati Exposition. The com-
mittee, representing the Board of Commissioners of the
Exposition, was headed by Chairman Goodale and Presi-
dent Allison and wife, accompanied by Mayor Amor Smith
and wife, Comptroller E. P. Eshelby and wife, Hon. John
B. Peaslee, Mrs. and Miss Devereaux, C. H. Rockwell and
wife, and others.
In the evening 300 gentlemen, exhibiting implements
and agricultural machinery at the State Fair — then in
progress — called on General Harrison. John C. Wingate,
of Montgomery County, was their spokesman.
Responding to their greeting the General said :
My Friends — When I was asked yesterday whether it would be
agreeable to me to see about one hundred gentlemen who were here
in attendance upon the Indiana State Fair and connected with the
exhibit of machinery, I was assured their call would be of the most
informal character — that they would simply visit me at my home
and spend a few moments socially. [Laughter.] Until I heard
the music of your band and saw the torchlights, that was my un-
derstanding of what was in store for me this evening. I am again
the victim of a misunderstanding. [Laughter and applause.]
Still, though my one hundred guests have been multiplied several
times, and though I find myself compelled to speak to you en masse
rather than individually, I am glad to see you. I thank you for
your visit, and for the cordial terms in wrhich you have addressed
me. What your speaker has said as to tlje favorable condition of
our working people is true ; and we are fortunate in the fact that
we do not need to depend for our evidence on statistics or the re-
ports of those who casually visit the countries of the Old World.
There is probably not a shop represented here that has not among
its workingmen those who have tried the conditions of life in the
old country, and are able to speak from personal experience. It
cannot be doubted that our American system of levying discrim
inating duties upon competing foreign products has much to do
with the better condition of our working people. I welcome you
HARRISON'S SPEECHES 137
as representatives of one of the great industries of our country.
The demands of the farm have been met by the ingenuity of your
shops. The improvement in farm machinery within my own recol-
lection has been marvellous. The scythe and the cradle still held
control in the harvest field when I first went out to carry the noon
meal to the workmen. Afterward it sometimes fell to my lot
in the hay-field to drive one of the old-fashioned combination reap-
ers and mowers. It was a great advance over the scythe and
cradle, and yet it was heavy and clumsy — a very horse-killer.
[Laughter and applause.] When the drivers struck a stump
the horse had no power over the machine in either direct ion. Now
these machines have been so lightened and improved that they are
the perfection of mechanism. Your inventive genius has responded
to the necessities of the farm until that which was drudgery has
become light and easy. I thank you again for your call, and will
be glad to meet personally those strangers who are here. [Ap-
plause. ]
INDIANAPOLIS, SEPTEMBER 21.
RANDOLPH and Jay counties, Indiana, contributed 3,000
visitors on September 21. At the head of the Randolph
column marched 200 members of the " Old Men's Tippe-
canoe Club," of Winchester, led by Marshals J. B. Ross,
A. J. Stakebake, and Auditor Cranor. Other leaders in
the delegation were Mayor F. H. Bowen, Hon. Theo. Shock-
ley, Geo. Patchell, W. S. Ensign, Frank Parker, Samuel
Bell, Dr. G. Rynard, and Washington Smith, of Union
City; J. W. Macy, J. S. Engle, Reverdy Puckett, A. C.
Beeson, and John E. Markle, of Winchester.
The Jay County contingent was led by James A. Rus-
sell, B. D. Halfhill, Isaac McKinney, J. W. Williams, Eli
Clark, J. C. Andrews, T. J. Cartwright, and Albert Mar-
tin. L. C. Hauseman was spokesman for the Hoosiers.
Gen. Stone, of Randolph, spoke on behalf of the veterans.
From Dayton, Ohio, came 500 visitors, including 60
veterans of the campaign of '40, led by Secretary Edgar.
Marshal James Applegate, Mr. Eckley, Dr. J. A. Ronspert,
and W. R. Knaub were other leaders of the Ohio contin-
138 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
gent. Col. John G. Lowe was their speaker, and referred
to the fact that Gen. Harrison " had won. his education
and Miss Caroline M. Scott, now his estimable wife, when
a resident of Ohio."
To these addresses the General, responding, said :
My Ohio and Indiana Friends — The magnitude and the cordiality
of this demonstration are very gratifying. That these representa-
tives of the State of my nativity, and these, my neighbors in this
State of my early adoption, should unite this morning in giving
this evidence of their respect and confidence is especially pleasing.
I do remember Ohio, the State of my birth and of my boyhood,
with affection and veneration. I take pride in her great history,
the illustrious men she furnished to lead our armies, and the army
of her brave boys who bore the knapsack and the gun for the Union.
I take pride in her pure and illustrious statesmen. Ohio was the
first of the Northwestern States to receive the western emigration
after the Revolutionary War. When that tide of patriotism which
had borne our country to freedom and had established our Constitu-
tion threw upon the West many of the patriots whose fortunes had
been maimed or broken by their sacrifices in the Revolutionary
War, this pure stream, pouring over the Alleghanies, found its
first basin in the State of Ohio. [Cries of "Good ! Good !"]
The waters of patriotism that had been distilled in the fires of the
Revolution fertilized her virgin fields. [Applause. ] I do not for-
get, however, that my manhood has all been spent in Indiana — that
all the struggle which is behind me in life has this for its field.
[Cheers.]
I brought to this hospitable State only that to which Col. Lowe
has alluded — an education and a good wife. [Great cheering.]
Whatever else I have, whatever else I have accomplished, for myself
and for my family or the public, has been under the favoring and
friendly auspices of these, my fellow-citizens of Indiana, [Ap-
plause.] To them I owe more than I can repay. My Indiana
friends, you come from a county largely devoted to agriculture.
The invitation of Nature was so generous that your people have
generally accepted it. Guarded as your early settlers were, and as
those of Ohio were, by that sword of liberty which was placed at
your gates by the ordinance of 1787, stimulated, as you have been,
by the suggestions of that great ordinance in favor of morality and
education, you have, in your rural homes, one of the best commu-
nities in the world. [Applause. ] You do not forget, farmers though
you are, that 95 per cent, of the product of your farms is consumed
HARBISON'S SPEECHES. 139
at home, and you are too wise to put that in peril in a greedy
search after foreign trade. [Great applause.] You will not sacri-
fice these great industries that have created in our country a con-
suming class for your products. [Cheers.] I do not think that
there is any doubt what tariff policy England would wish us to
adopt, and yet some say that England is trembling lest we should
adopt free trade here [laughter] , and so rob her of other markets
that she now enjoys. [Laughter. ] The story of our colonial days,
when England, with selfish and insatiate avarice, laid her repres-
sive hand upon our infant manufactories and attempted to suppress
them all, furnishes the first object-lesson she ga.ve us. Another
was given when the life of this Nation — the child of England, as
she has been wont to call us, speaking the mother tongue, having
many institutions inherited from her — was imperilled. The offer
of free trade by the Confederacy so touched the commercial greed
of England that she forgot the ties of blood and went to the verge
of war wTith us to advance the cause of the rebel Government.
[Cheers.] But what England wants, or what any other country
wants, is not very important — certainly not conclusive. [Cheers. ]
What is best for us and our people should be the decisive ques-
tion. [Cheers,] My Randolph County friends, there are State
questions that must take a strong hold upon the minds of people
like yours. The proposition to lift entirely out of the range and
control of partisan politics the great benevolent institutions of the
State is one that must commend itself to all your people. [Cheers.]
If all those friends who sympathize with us upon this question had
acted with us in 1886 wTe should then have accomplished this great
reform. [Applause.] And now, to these old gentlemen whose
judgment and large experience in life gives added value to their
kind words ; to these young friends who, for the first time, take a
freeman's place in the line of battle to do duty for the right, I give
my kindly greetings and best wishes in return for theirs. [Cheers.]
INDIANAPOLIS, SEPTEMBER
ON the afternoon of September 22 General Harrison was
visited by 600 Chicago "drummers," organized as the Re-
publican Commercial Travellers' Association of Chicago
and accompanied by the celebrated Second Regiment Band.
They were escorted to the Harrison residence by the Co-
lumbia Club and 200 members of the Republican Commer-
140 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
cial Travellers' Escort Club of Indianapolis, George C.
Webster, President ; Ernest Morris, Secretary.
The entire business community turned out to greet the
visitors as they marched through the city, performing
difficult evolutions, under the command of Chief Marshal
Vandever and his aids — C. S. Felton, P. H. Brockway, B.
F. Horton, Joseph Pomroy, W. H. Haskell, Geo. W. Bris-
tol, A. C. Boyd, Geo. H. Green, and Secretary H. A.
Morgan.
General Harrison's appearance was signalized by a re-
markable demonstration. Col. H. H. Kude delivered the
address on behalf of his associates.
In response General Harrison made one of his best
speeches. He said:
Sir, and Gentlemen of the Republican Commercial Travellers' As-
sociation of Chicago — I bid you welcome to my home. I give you
my most ardent thanks for this cordial evidence of your interest in
those great principles of government which are advocated by the
Republican party, whose candidate I am. I am not unfamiliar
with the value, efficency, and intelligence of the commercial trav-
ellers of our country. [Cheers. 1 The contribution you make to
the success of the business communities with which you are iden-
tified is large and indispensable. I do not doubt that one of the
strongest props of Chicago's commercial greatness wT>uld be de-
stroyed if you were withdrawn from the commercial forces of that
great city. [Cheers.] The growth and development of Chicago
has been one of the most marvellous incidents in the story of Amer-
ican progress. It is gratifying to know that your interest is en-
listed in this political campaign. It is very creditable to you that
in the rush of the busy industries and pushing trade of your city
you have not forgotten that you are American citizens and that you
owe service, not to commerce only, but to your country. [Great
cheering.] It is gratifying to be assured that you propose to bring
your influence into the great civil contest which is now engaging
the interest of our people. The intelligence and energy which you
give to your commercial pursuits will be a most valuable contribu-
tion to our cause. [Cheers. ] The power of such a body of men is
very great.
I want now to introduce to you for a moment another speaker —
an Englishman. Within the last year I have been reading, wholly
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 141
without any view to politics, the story of our diplomatic relations
with England during the Civil War. The motive that most strongly
influenced the English mind in its sympathy with the South was the
expectancy of free trade with the Confederacy [cries of "That's
right!"], and among the most influential publications intended to
urge English recognition and aid to the Confederates was a book
entitled "The American Union," by James Spence. It was pub-
lished in 1862, and ran through several editions. Speaking of the
South he said :
"No part of the world can be found more admirably placed for
exchanging with this country the products of industry to mutual
advantage than the Southern States of the Union. Producing in
abundance the material we chiefly require, their climate and the
habits of the people indispose them to manufactures, and leave to
be purchased precisely the commodities we have to sell. They
have neither the means nor the desire to enter into rivalry with us.
Commercially they offer more than the capabilities of another India
within a fortnight's distance from our shores. The capacity of a
Southern trade when free from restrictions may be estimated most
correctly by comparison. The condition of those States resembles
that of Australia, both non- manufacturing countries, with the com-
mand of ample productions to offer in exchange for the imports
they require."
The author proceeds to show that at the time England's exports to
our country were only thirteen shillings per capita of our popula-
tion, while the exports to Australia were ten pounds sterling per
capita. Let me now read you what is said of the Northern States :
"The people of the North, whether manufacturers or ship-own-
ers, regard us as rivals and competitors, to be held back and
cramped by all possible means. [Applause and cries of " That's it !"]
They possess the same elements as ourselves — coal, metals, ships,
an aptitude for machinery, energy and industry — while the early
obstacles of deficient capital and scanty labor are rapidly disappear-
ing. [Applause and a voice, " Exactly !"]
" For many years they have competed with us in some manufact-
ures in foreign markets, and their peculiar skill in the contriv-
ance of labor-saving machinery daily increases the number of ar-
ticles they produce cheaper than ourselves. [Loud cheering and a
voice, "We'll knock them out again !"]
" Thus, to one part of the world our exports are at the rate of ten
pounds sterling per head, while those to the Union amount to but
thirteen shillings per head. "
I have read these extracts because they seemed to me very sugges-
tive and very instructive. The South offered free trade to Europe
in exchange for an expected recognition of their independence by
England and France. [Cries of "You are right!"] The offer was
very attractive and persuasive to the ruling classes of England.
They took Confederate bonds and sent out armed cruisers to prey
142 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
upon our commerce. They dallied with Southern agents, fed them
with delusive hopes, and thus encouraged the South to protract a
hopeless struggle. They walked to the very edge of open war with
the United States, forgetful of all the friendly ties that had bound
us as nations, and all this to satisfy a commercial greed. We may
learn from this how high a price England then set upon free trade
with a part only of the States. [A voice, "We remember it !"]
But now the Union has been saved and restored. Men of both
armies and of all the States rejoice that England's hope of a com-
mercial dependency on our Southern coast was disappointed. The
South is under no stress to purchase foreign help by trade conces-
sions. She will now open her hospitable doors to manufacturing,
capital, and skilled labor.
It is not now true that either climate or the habits of her people
indispose them to manufactures. Of the Virginias, North Caro-
lina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and Missouri, it may be now
said, as Mr. Spence said of the more northern States . "They possess
the same elements as ourselves [England] — coal, metals, ships, an
aptitude for machinery, energy, and industry — while the early obsta-
cles of deficient capital and scanty labor are rapidly disappearing. "
And I am sure there is a "New South " — shackled as it is by tradi-
tions and prejudices — that is girding itself to take part in great in-
dustrial rivalry with England, which Mr. Spence so much depre-
cates. These great States will no longer allow either Old England
or New England to spin and weave their cotton, but will build
mills in the very fields where the great staple is gathered. [Ap-
plause.] They will no longer leave Pennsylvania without an ac-
tive rival in the production of iron. They surely will not, if they
are at all mindful of their great need and their great opportunity,
unite in this crusade against our protected industries.
Our interests no longer run upon sectional lines, and it cannot
be good for any part of our country that Mr. Spence's vision of
English trade with us should be realized. [Cries of "Never! Nev-
er!"] Commerce between the States is working mightily, if
silently, to efface all lingering estrangements between our people,
and the appeal for the perpetuation of the American system of pro-
tection will, I am sure, soon find an answering response among the
people of all the States. [Loud cheering. ]
I thank you again for this beautiful and cordial demonstration,
and will now be glad to meet you personally.
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 143
INDIANAPOLIS, SEPTEMBER 25.
THE third delegation from Wabash County during the
campaign arrived on September 25, a thousand strong,
headed by Hon. Jesse Arnold, Col. Homan Depew, Thomas
Black, W. D. Caldwell, Obed Way, Thomas McNamee,
Rob' t Thompson, Wm. Alexander, Robert Wilson, Andrew
Egnew, C. S. Haas, W. W. Stewart, W. H. Bent, Robert
Stewart, and W. D. Gachenour. Their spokesman was
Capt. B. F. Williams. Parke County, Indiana, contributed
a large delegation the same day, under the lead of John
W. Stryker, Jacob Church, John R. Johnson, A. O. Ben-
son, W. W. McCune, Joseph H. Jordan, and A. A. Har-
grave, of Rockville, and 300 school children, in charge of
A. R. McMurty. Dr. T. F. Leech was orator for the Parke
visitors.
General Harrison spoke as follows :
My WabasU County Friends and my Little Friends from Parke —
I am very glad to meet you here to-day. My friend who has spoken
for Wabash County has very truly said that the relations between
me and the Republicans of that county have always been exceed-
ingly cordial. I remember well when I first visited your county
in 1860, almost a boy in years, altogether a boy in political experi-
ence. I was then a candidate for Reporter of the Decisions of the
Supreme Court of this State. You had in one of your own citi-
zens, afterward a distinguished soldier, a candidate for that office
in the convention that nominated me, but that did not interfere
at all with the cordial welcome from your people when, as th"
nominee of the party, I came into your county. I think from
that day to this my name has never been mentioned in any conven-
tion for any office that I have not had almost the unanimous sup-
port of the Republicans of Wabash County. [Applause. ] This is
no new interest which you now manifest to-day.. The expressions
of your confidence have been very numerous and have been contin-
ued through nearly thirty years.
There is one word on one subject that I wrant to say. Our Demo-
cratic friends tell us that there are about a hundred millions — their
arithmeticians do not agree on the exact figures — in the public-
Treasury for which the Government has no need. They have found
144 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
only this method of using it, viz. : depositing it in the national
banks of the country, to be loaned out by them to our citizens at
interest, the Government getting no interest whatever from the
banks. I suggested, and it was not an original suggestion with
me — Senator Sherman has advocated the same policy with great
ability in the Senate — that this money had better be used in buying
Government bonds, because the Government would make some
money in applying it that way, and there was no other way in
whicli they could get any interest on it at all. But it is said if
we use it in this manner we pay a premium to the bondholders.
But it is only the same premium that the bonds are bringing in the
market. In other words, as I said the other day, capitalists who
can use their money as they please — put it out on mortgages, at in-
terest, or in any other way — think the Government bond at the cur-
rent rate of premium is a good investment for them. Now, the
Government can buy those bonds at that premium and save a great
deal of interest. I will not undertake to give you figures. One
issue of these bonds matures in 1907, and bears four per cent, an-
nual interest. Now, suppose this surplus money were to remain all
that time in the banks without bringing any interest to the Gov-
ernment : is there a man here so dull that he cannot see the great loss
that would result to the people? I have another objection to this
policy ; the favoritism that is involved in it. We have heard — and
from such high authority that I think that we must accept it as
true — that the great patronage appertaining to the office of Presi-
dent of the -United States involves a public peril. NOWT, suppose we
add to that danger a hundred millions of dollars that the Secretary
of the Treasury can put in this community or that, in this bank or
that, at his pleasure ; is not the power of the executive perilously
increased? Is it right that the use of this vast sum should be a
matter of mere favoritism, that the Secretary should be allowed to
put $10,000,000 of this surplus in Indianapolis and none of it in
Kansas City, or $75,000,000 in New York and none in Indianapolis?
If the money is used in buying bonds it finds its natural place —
goes where it belongs. This is a most serious objection to the pres-
ent method of dealing with the surplus. But if you still object to
paying the market premium when we buy these bonds, see now it
works the other way. The banks deposit their bonds in the Treas-
ury to secure these deposits, get the Government money without
interest, and still draw interest on their bonds. If any of you had
a note for a thousand dollars due in five years, bearing interest,
and your credit was so good that the note was worth a premium,
and you had twelve hundred dollars that you could not put out at
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 145
interest so as to offset the interest on your note, would you not
make money by using this surplus to take up the note at a fair
premium? Would you think it wise finance to give the thousand
dollars that you had on hand to your creditor without interest and
allow him to deposit your note with you as security, you paying
interest on the note until it was due and getting no interest on
your deposit? [Laughter and applause.].
I welcome my young friends from Parke County. There is nothing
fuller of interest than childhood. There is so much promise and
hope in it. Expectancy makes life very rosy to them and them
very interesting to us who have passed beyond the turn of life.
[Applause. ] You are fortunate in these kind instructors, who from
week to week instil into your minds the principles of religion and
of morality ; but do not forget that there is another vine of beauty
that may be appropriately twined with those — the love of your
country and her institutions. [Applause.] I thank you again for
this cordial evidence of your regard. The skies are threatening,
and as there is danger that our meeting may be interrupted by rain
I will stop here in order that I may meet each of you personally.
[Cheers.]
INDIANAPOLIS, SEPTEMBER 26.
OHIO and Indiana united to-day again, through their
delegation's, aggregating 4,000 citizens, in paying their
respects to General Harrison. The Tippecanoe Veteran
Association of Columbus, Ohio, J. E. St. Clair, President,
comprising 200 veterans, whose ages averaged 70 years,
was escorted by the Foraker Club of Columbus, led by
President Reeves. The veterans were accompanied by the
venerable Judge John A. Bingham,of Cadiz,and Gen. Geo.
B. Wright, of Columbus, both of whom made addresses.
No other club or organziation, during the entire campaign,
was the recipient of such marked attentions as the Ohio
veterans ; the youngest among them was 68 years of age.
Among the oldest were Win. Armstrong, aged 91 ; Ansel
Bristol, 80; H. H. Chariton, 84; Francis A. Crum, 82;
Joseph Davis, 84 ; Henry Edwards, 80 ; John Fields, 82 ;
John A. Gill, 82; J. L. Grover, 81; J. A. S. Harlow, 87;
146 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
Harris Loomis, 84; Dan'l Melhousen, 80; Sam! McCle-
land, 80; Judge John Otstot, 86; James Park, 80; Daniel
Short, 83; John Saul, 86; George Snoffer, 85; David Tay-
lor, 87 ; Jacob Taylor, 88 ; J. D. Fuller, 82, and Luther
Hillery, aged 90, who knew William Henry Harrison be-
fore his first nomination. Prominent in the Foraker Club
were Dr. A. W. Harden and D. K. Reif .
The Tipton County, Indiana, visitation was under the
auspices of the First Voters' Club of the town of Tipton.
A large club of Tippecanoe campaign veterans headed
their column, led by Chief Marshal J. A. Swoveland, as-
sisted by M. W. Pershing, James Johns, John F. Pyke,
R. J. McCalion, Isaac Booth, J. Q. Seright, and J. Wol-
verton. Judge Daniel Waugh, of Tipton, was the mouth-
piece of the delegation.
From Elkhart County, Indiana, came a notable delega-
tion of a thousand business men, prominent among whom
were State Senator Davis, Hon. Geo. W. Burt, Daniel Zook,
H. J. Beyerle, E. G. Herr, D. W. Neidig, T. H. Dailey, D.
W. Granger, and I. W. Nash, of Goshen; and James H.
State, A. C. Manning, J. W. Fieldhouse, J. G- Schreiner,
A. P. Kent, J. H. Cainon, Frank Baker, and Jacob Berkley,
of Elkhart City. Hon. O. Z. Hubbell was spokesman for
the delegation. Judge Bingham's eloquent address was
listened to with marked attention.
General Harrison responded as follows :
Gentlemen, my Ohio and Indiana Friends — Again about this plat-
form there are gathered representatives from these two great States.
Your coming is an expression of a common interest, a recognition
of the fact that there is a citizenship that is wider than the lines
of any State. [Cheers.] That over and above that just pride in
your own communities, which you cherish so jealously, there is a
fuller pride in the one flag, to which we all give our allegiance, and
in the one Constitution, which binds the people of these States to-
gether indissolubly in a Government strong enough to protect its
humblest citizen wherever he may sojourn. [Prolonged cheers.]
Your State institutions are bused, like those of the Nation, upon
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 147
the great principles of human liberty and equality, and are con-
secrated to the promotion of social order and popular education.
But, above all this, resting on like foundations, is the strong
arch of the Union that binds us together as a Nation. You are
citizens of the United States, and as such have common interests
that suggest this meeting. [Cheers.]
I cannot speak separately to the various organizations represented
here. There is a broad sense in which you are one. But I cannot
omit to pay a hearty tribute of thanks to these venerable men who
are gathered about me to-day. I value this tribute from them
more than words can tell. I cannot, without indelicacy, speak
much of that campaign to which they brought the enthusiasm of
their earlier life and to which their memories now turn with so
much interest. If, out of it, they have brought on with them in
life to this moment and have transferred to me some part of the
respect which another won from them, then I will find in their
kindness a new stimulus to duty. [Applause and cries, "We
have ; we have !"] In looking over, the other day, a publication of
the campaign of 18 iO, I fell upon a card signed by fifteen Dem-
ocrats of Orange, N. J. , giving their reasons for leaving the Dem-
ocratic party. It has occurred to me that it might be interesting to
some of these old gentlemen. [Cries of "We want to hear it!"
and "Read it !"]
It was as follows : " We might give many reasons for this change
in our political opinions. The following, however, we deem suffi-
cient : We do not believe the price of labor in this free country
should be reduced to the standard prescribed by despots in foreign
countries. [Applause. ] We do not believe in fighting for the coun-
try and being unrepresented in the councils of the country. We
do not believe in an exclusive, hard, metallic currency any more
than we believe in hard bread or no bread ! We do not believe it
was the design of the framers of the Constitution that the Presi-
dent should occupy his time during the first term in electioneering
for his re-election to a second term !" [Loud laughter and ap-
pla 'se.] I have read this simply as an historical curiosity and to
refresh your recollections as to some of the issues of that campaign.
If it has any application to our modern politics I will leave you to
make it. [Laughter and applause.] I have recently been talking,
and have one thing further to say, about the surplus.
There is a very proper use I think that can be made of more than
t\venty millions of it. During the Civil War our customs receipts
and our receipts from internal taxes, which last had brought under
tribute almost every pursuit in life, were inadequate to the great
148 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
drain upon our Treasury caused by the Civil War. Our Congress,
exercising one of the powers of the Constitution, levied a direct tax
upon the States. Ohio paid her part of it, Indiana paid hers, and
so did the other loyal States. The Southern States were in rebel-
lion and did not pay theirs. Now we have come to a time when
the Government has surplus money, and the proposition was made
in Congress to return this tax to the States that had paid it. [Ap-
plause.] The State of Indiana would have received one million
dollars, which my fellow-citizens of this State know would have
been a great relief to our taxpayers in the present depleted condi-
tion of our treasury. [Cheers. ] I do not recall the exact amount
Ohio would have received, but it was much larger. If any one
asks, Why repay this tax? this illustration wrill be a sufficient an-
swer : Suppose five men are associated in a business corporation.
The corporation suffers losses and its capital is impaired. An as-
sessment becomes necessary, and three members pay their assess-
ments while two do not. The corporation is again prosperous and
there is a surplus of money in the treasury. What shall be done
with it? Manifestly, justice requires that the two delinquents
should pay up or that there should be returned to the other three
the assessment levied upon them. [Great cheering.] A bill pro-
viding for the repayment of the tax wras killed in the House of
Representatives, not by voting it down, but by filibustering, a ma-
jority of the House being in favor of its passage. And those who
defeated the bill by those revolutionary tactics were largely from
the States that had not paid the tax. [Cheers.] I mention these
facts to sho\v that twenty millions of the surplus now lying in the
banks, where it draws no interest, might very righteously be used so
as to greatly lighten the real burdens of taxation now resting on
the people — burdens that the people know to be taxes without any
argument from our statesmen. [Applause and laughter.] I am a
lover of silence [laughter], and yet when such assemblies as these
greet me wTith their kind, earnest faces and their kinder words, I
do not know how I can do less than to say a few words upon some
of these great public questions. I have spoken frankly and fear-
lessly my convictions upon these questions. [Cheers and cries of
"Good! Good!"] And now, unappalled by the immensity of this
audience, I will complete the accustomed programme and take by the
hand such of you as desire to meet me personally. [Cheers.]
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 14!)
INDIANAPOLIS, SEPTEMBER 27.
GENERAL HARRISON'S visitors this day came from Ohio
and Pennsylvania. Hancock and Allen counties, Ohio,
sent over a thousand, including the Harrison and Morton
Battalion of Lima, commanded by Capt. Martin Atmer,
arid the Republican Veteran Club of Findla}^, Rev. R. H.
Holliday, President. The Chief Marshal of the combined
delegations was Major S. F. Ellis, of Lima, hero of the
forlorn hope storming column which carried the intrench-
ments at Port Hudson, La., June 15, 1863. Prominent
members of the Allen County delegation were Hon. Geo.
Hall, Geo. P. Waldorf, S. S. Wheeler, J. F. Price, W. A.
Campbell, J. J. Marks, and Burt Hagedorn. Major S. M.
Jones was spokesman for the visitors.
General Harrison, with his usual vigor, replied :
Gentlemen and my Ohio Friends — The State of my nativity has
again placed me under obligations by this new evidence of the re-
spect of her people. I am glad to meet you and to notice in the
kind and interested faces into which I look a confirmation of the
cordial remarks which have been addressed to me on your behalf.
You each feel a personal interest and, I trust, a personal responsi-
bility in this campaign. The interest which expresses itself only
in public demonstrations is not of the highest value. The citizen
who really believes that this election will either give a fresh im-
pulse to the career of prosperity and honor in which our Nation
has walked since the war, or will clog and retard that progress,
comes far short of his duty if he does not in his own place as a cit-
izen make his influence felt for the truth upon those who are near
him. [Applause.] You come from a community that ha,s recently
awakened to the fact that beneath the soil which has long yielded
bounteous harvests to your farmers there was stored by nature a
great and new source of wealth. You, in common with neighbor-
ing communities in Ohio and with other communities in our State,
have only partially realized as yet the increase in wealth that oil
and natural gas will bring to them, if it is not checked by destruc-
tive changes in our tariff policy. This fact should quicken and
intensify the interest of these communities in this contest for the
preservation of the American system of protection. [Applause.]
It is said by some of our opponents that a protective tariff has no
lf>0 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
influence upon wages ; that labor in the United States has nothing
to fear from the competition from pauper labor ; that in the contest
between pauper labor and high priced labor pauper labor was
always driven out. Do such statements as these fall in line Avith
experiences of these working-men who are before me? [Cries of
"No, no!"] If that is true, then why the legislative precautions
we have wisely taken against the coming of pauper labor to our
shores? It is because you know, every one of you, that in a con-
test between two rival establishments here, or between two rival
countries, that that shop or that country that pays the lowest wages
— and £0 produces most cheaply — can command the market. If the
products of foreign mills that pay low wages are admitted here
without discriminating duties, you know there is only one way to
meet such competition, and that is by reducing wages in our mills.
[Applause. ] They seek to entice you by the suggestion that you
can wear cheaper clothing when free access is given to the products
of foreign woollen mills ; and yet they mention also that now, in
some of our own cities, the men, and especially the women, who
are manufacturing the garments we wear are not getting adequate
wages, and that among some of them there is suffering. Do they
hope that when the coat is made cheaper the wages of the man or
woman who makes it will be increased? The power of your labor
organizations to secure increased wages is greatest when there is a
large demand for the product you are making at fair prices. You
do not strike for better wageg,on a falling market. When the mills
are running full time, when there is a full demand at good prices
for the product of your toil, and when warehouses are empty, then
your organization may effectively insist upon increased wages.
Did any of you ever see one of the organized .efforts for better
wages succeed when the mill was running on half time, and there
was a small demand at falling prices in the market for the product?
[Applause.] The protective sj^stem works with your labor organi-
zation to secure and maintain a just compensation for labor.
Whenever it becomes true — as it is in some other countries — that
the workingman spends to-day wrhat he will earn to-morrow, then
your labor organizations will lose their power. Then the workman
becomes in very fact a part of the machine he operates. He can-
not leave it, for he has eaten to-day bread that he is to earn to-
morrow. But when he eats to-day bread that he earned last week
or last year, then he may successfully resist any unfair exactions.
[Applause. ] I do not say that we have here an ideal condition. I
do not deny that in connection with some of our employments the
conditions of life are hard. But the practical question is this : Is
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 151
not the condition t>f our working people on the average compara-
tively a great deal better than that of any other country? [Ap-
plause and cries of "Good ! Good !r]
If it is, then you will carefully scan all these suggestions before
you consent that the work of foreign workmen shall supply our
market, now supplied by the products of the hands of American
workmen. I thank you again. The day is threatening and cool,
and I beg you to excuse further public speech. [Applause.]
At night 200 Pennsylvanians, who came to Indiana to
aid in developing the natural gas industry, called upon
General Harrison at his residence, under the direction of
a committee composed of Capt. J. C. Gibney, J. B. Wheeler,
and Geo. A. Richards. Their spokesman was Wm. Mc-
Elwaine, a fellow- workman.
General Harrison addressed them and said :
Gentlemen — It is very pleasant for me to meet you to-night in
my owrn home. The more informal my intercourse can be made
with my fellow-citzens the more agreeable it is to me. To you,
and all others who will come informally to my home, I will gives,
hearty greeting. I am glad to see these representatives from the
State, of Pennsylvania whose business pursuits have called them to
make their home with us in Indiana. The State -of Pennsylvania
has a special interest forme in the fact that it was the native State
of a, mother who, though nearly forty years dead, still lives affec-
tionately in my memory. I welcome you here to this State as those
who come to settle among us under new conditions of industrial
and domestic life, to bring into our factories and our homes this
new fuel from which we hope so much, not only in the promotion
of domestic comfort and economy, but in the advancement of our
manufacturing institutions. Your calling is one requiring high
skill and intelligence and great fidelity. The agent with which
you deal is an admirable servant but a dangerous master, and
through carelessness may bring a peril instead of a blessing into our
households and into our communities. I am glad that Indiana, so
long drained upon by the States west of the Mississippi, has at last
felt in your coming from that stanch, magnificent Republican com-
monwealth some restoration of this drain, which has made the
struggle for Republican success in Indiana doubtful in our previous
elections. It is time some of the States east of us, having such
majorities as Pennsylvania, were contributing not only to our busi-
ness enterprise and prosperity, but to the strengthening of the
152 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
Republican ranks, which have been depleted by the invitations
which the agricultural States of the West have extended to our en-
terprising young men. I welcome your here to-night, and will be
glad to have a personal introduction to each of you. [Applause.]
INDIANAPOLIS, SEPTEMBER 29.
OHIO and Illinois did honor this day again to the Repub-
lican nominee. From Cleveland came 800 voters; their
organizations were the Harrison Boys in Blue — 200 vet-
erans of the Civil War — commanded by Gen. James Bar-
nett; the Garfield Club, led by Thomas R. Whitehead and
Albert M. Long; the Logan Club, headed by Capt. W. R.
Isham, and the German Central Club. Prominent in the
delegation were Hon. Amos Townsend, John Gibson, and
Major Palmer, the blind orator. Gen. E. Myers spoke for
the Buckeyes. The city of Normal, McLean County,
Illinois, sent a delegation of 200 teachers and students of
the State Normal School, including 70 ladies. Student
William Galbraith spoke for his associates.
General Harrison, in response, said :
Gentlemen and Friends — The organizations represented here this
morning have for me each an individual interest. Each is sugges-
tive of a line of thought which I should be glad to follow, but I
cannot, in the few moments that I can speak to you in this chilly
atmosphere, say all that the names and character of your respective
clubs suggest as appropriate. I welcome those comrades in the
Union army in the Civil War. [Cheers. ]
Death wrought its work in ghastly form in those years when,
patiently, fearlessly, and hopefully, you carried the flag to the
front and brought it at last in triumph to the Nation's capital.
[Cheers.] Death, since, in its gentler forms, has been coming
into the households where the veterans that were spared from shot
and shell abide. The muster-roll of the living is growing shorter.
The larger company is being rapidly recruited. You live not
alone in the memories of the war. Your presence here attests that,
as citizens, you feel the importance of these civil strifes. You
recall the incidents of the great war. not in malice, not to stir or
revive sectional divisions, or to re- mark sectional lines, but because
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 15:>
you believe that it is good for the Nation that loyalty to the flag
and heroism in its defence should be remembered and honored.
[Cheers.] There is not a veteran here, in this Republican Club of
veterans, who does not desire that the streams of prosperity in the
Southern States should run bank-full. [Cheers.]
There is not one who does not sympathize with her plague-
stricken communities, and rejoice in every new evidence of her
industrial development. The Union veterans have never sought to
impose hard conditions upon the brave men they vanquished. The
generous terms of surrender given by General Grant were not alone
expressions of his own brave, magnanimous nature. The hearts of
soldiers who carried the gun and the knapsack in his victorious
army were as generous as his. You were glad to accept the renewal
of the Confederate soldier's allegiance to the flag as the happy end
of all strife ; willing that he should possess the equal protection and
power of a citizenship that you had preserved for yourselves and
secured to him. [Cheers.] You have only asked — and you may
confidently submit to the judgment of every brave Confederate
soldier whether the terms are not fair — that the veteran of the
Union army shall have, as a voter, an equal influence in the affairs
of the country that was saved by him for both with the man who
fought against the flag, and that soldiers of neither army shall
abridge the rights of others under the law. [Great cheering.]
Less than that you cannot accept with honor ; less than that a gen-
erous foe would not consent to offer.
To the gentlemen of the John A. Logan Club let me say : You
have chosen a worthy name for your organization. Patriot, soldier,
and statesman, Logan's memory will live in the affectionate admi-
ration of his comrades and in the respect of all his opponents. His
home State was Illinois, but his achievements were national.
To these German- American Republicans I give a most cordial
welcome. You have been known in our politics as a people well
informed upon all the great economic questions that ha.ve arisen
for settlement. You have always been faithful to an honest cur-
rency. [Cheers.] The enticements of depreciated money did not
win you from sound principle. You bravely stood for a paper cur-
rency that should be the true equivalent of coin. [Cries of "Good !
Good !"] Those who, like your people, have learned the lessons of
thrift and economy in your old country homes, and have brought
them here with you, realized that above all things the laborer
needed honest money that would not shrink in his hands when it
had paid him for an honest day's toil. And now, when another
great economic question is pressing for determination, I do not
154 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
doubt that you will as wisely and as resolutely help to settle that
also.
As the great German chancellor, that student of human govern-
ment and affairs, turning his thoughtful study toward the history
of our country since the war, has declared that in his judgment our
protective tariff system was the source of our strength, that by
reason of it we were able to deal with a war debt that seemed to be
appalling and insurmountable, I do not doubt that you, too, men
who believe in work and in thrift, and so many of whom are
everywhere sheltered under a roof of their own, will unite with
us in this struggle to preserve our American market for our own
workingmen, and to maintain here a living standard of wages.
[Cheers. ]
To these students who come fresh from the class-room to give me
a greeting this morning I also return my sincere thanks. I suggest
to them that they be not only students of books and maxims, but
also of men a.nd markets ; that in the study of the tariff question
they do not forget, as so many do, that they are Americans.
I thank you all again for your visit. I regret that I am not
able to give you, in my own home, a personal and more cordial
greeting. My house is not large enough to receive you. [A
voice, " Your heart is !"] Yes, I have room enough in my heart
for all. [Great cheering. ] I am very sincerely grateful for these
evidences of your personal regard. Out of them all ; out of the
coming of these frequent and enthusiastic crowds of my fellow-
citizens ; out of all these kind words ; out of these kind faces of
men and women: out of the hearty " God- speeds" you give me, I
hope to bring an inspiration and an endowment for whatever may
be before me in life, whether I shall walk in private or public
paths. [Great cheering. ]
The largest delegation of the day, numbering over a
thousand business men, arrived from Chicago, after stop-
ping en route at several important points, where their
orators, Gen. H. H. Thomas, George Drigg, and Judge
John "W. Green, made speeches. Their notable political
organizations were the First Tippecanoe Club of Chicago,
100 veterans of 1840, led by Dr. D. S. Smith; the Logan
Club, and the Twelfth Ward Republican Club, led by
Charles Catlin, E. S. Taylor, Wm. Wilkes, and Joseph
Dixon. Judge Green and Dr. Smith delivered addresses.
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 155
General Harrison, responding, said :
My Illinois Friends — It is a source of great regret to ine that we
are not able to make your reception more comfortable. The chill
of this September evening and of this open grove is not sugges-
tive of the hospitable and cordial welcome that our people would
have been glad to extend to you. Our excuse for this time may be
found in the vastness of this assemblage. I am pleased to have
this fresh and imposing evidence of the enthusiasm and interest of
the Illinois Republicans. [Cheers.] There is nothing in the great
history of the Republican party that need inake any man blush to
own himself a Republican. [Cheers.] There is much to kindle
the enthusiasm of all lovers of their country. We do not rest in
the past, but we rejoice in it. [Cheers. ] The Republican party
has so consistently followed the teachings of those great Americans
whose names the wTorld reveres that we may appropriately hold a
Republican convention on the birthday of any one of them.
[Cheers.] The calendar of our political saints does not omit one
name that was conspicuous in peace or war. [Cheers.] We can
celebrate Jackson's birthday or the anniversary of the battle of New
Orleans because he stood for the unity of the Nation, and his vic-
tory confirmed it in the respect of the world. [Great cheering.]
There is no song of patriotism that we do not sing in our meetings.
There is no marble that has been builded to perpetuate the glory of
our soldiers about which we may not appropriately assemble and
proclaim the pine iples that we advocate. [Cheers. ] We believe in
our country, and give it our love and first care. We have always
advocated that policy in legislation which was promotive of the
interests and honor of our country. [Cheers. ] I will not discuss
any particular public topic to-day, as the conditions are so unfa-
vorable for out- door speaking. Let me thank you again for this
cordial evidence of your interest and for the personal respect which
you have shown to me. I hope you will believe that my heart is
deeply touched in these manifestations of the friendliness of my
fellow-citizens. If in anything I shall come short of the high ex-
pectations and hopes they have formed, it will not be because I do
not feel myself put under the highest obligations by these evidences
of their friendly regard to do my utmost to continue in their
respect and confidence. [Great cheering. ]
156 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
INDIANAPOLIS, OCTOBER 2.
THE fourteenth week of General Harrison's public recep-
tions opened this date with the arrival of an enthusiastic
Republican club from the distant city of Tower, Minn.,
most of whose members were engaged in the iron industry.
They left a huge specimen of Vermilion range iron ore —
weighing over 500 pounds — in the front yard of the Harri-
son residence. Prominent in the delegation were Dr. Fred
Barnett, Capt. Elisha Marcom, S. F. White, Chas. R.
Haines, John Owens, W. N. Shepard, K H. Bassett, S. J.
Noble, J. E. Bacon, J. B. Noble, Frank Burke, W. H.
Wickes, Chas. L. White, A. Nichaud, D. McKinley, and
Page Norris; also Geo. M. Smith and W. H. Cruikshank,
of Duluth.
Immediately following the reception of the Minnesota
visitors came two large delegations from Fulton and Mar-
shall counties, Indiana. The Fulton leaders were J. H.
Bibler, Dr. W. S. Shafer, Dr. E. Z. Capell, Arthur Howard,
Samuel Heftly, Henry Mow, C. D. Sisson, Arch Stinson,
J. F. Collins, A. F. Bowers, W. J. Howard, and T. M.
Bitters, of Rochester. M. L. Essick was their spokes-
man. Among the prominent members of the Marshall
County delegation were M. W. Simons, John W. Parks,
J. W. Siders, Edward McCoy, M. S. Smith, John V. Ast-
ley, Enoch Baker, I. H. Watson, and Abram Shafer, of
Plymouth. H. G. Thayer delivered the address.
General Harrison said :
My Indiana Friends — This is a home company to- day. Usually
our Indiana visitors have met here delegations from other States.
I am sure you will understand that I place a special value upon
these evidences of the interest Indiana Republicans are taking in
the campaign. Whatever the fate of the battle may be elsewhere, it
is always a source of pride to the soldier and to his leader that the
part of the line confided to their care held fast. [Applause. ] I
feel that I ought also to acknowledge the friendliness and co-oper-
ation which has been already extended to us in this campaign by
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 157
many who have differed with us heretofore. [Applause.] It is
encouraging to hear that the prosperous and intelligent farmers of
Marshall and Fulton counties have not been misled by the attempt
to separate the agricultural vote from the vote of the shop. It has
seemed to me that the Mills bill was framed for the purpose of
driving from the protection column the agricultural voters, not
by showing them favor, but the reverse — by placing agricultural
products on the free list, thus withdrawing from the farmer the
direct benefits he is receiving from our tariff laws as affecting
the products of his labor, hoping that the farmers might then be
relied upon to pull down the rest of the structure. I am glad to
believe that we have in Indiana a class of farmers too intelligent
to be caught by these unfriendly and fallacious propositions.
[Applause.] I had to-day a visit from twenty or more gentle-
men who came from the town of Tower, in the most northern
part of Minnesota, where, within the last four years, there has
been discovered and developed a great deposit of iron ore es-
pecially adapted to the manufacture of steel. Within the four
years since these mines were opened they tell me that about a mil-
lion tons of ore have been mined and sent to the furnaces. They
also mentioned the fact that arrangements are already being
made to bring block coal of Indiana to the mouth of these iron
mines, that the work of smelting may be done there. This is a
good illustration of the interlocking of interests between widely
separated States of the Union [applause] — a new market and a
larger demand for Indiana coal.
The attempt is often made to create the impression that only par-
ticular classes of workingmen are benefited by a protective tariff.
There can be nothing more untrue. The wages of all labor — labor
upon the farm, labor upon our streets — has a direct and essential
relation to the scale of wages that is paid to skilled labor. [Ap-
plause.] One might as well say that you could bring down the
price of a higher grade of cotton cloth without affecting the price
of lower grades as to say that you can degrade the price of skilled
labor without dragging down the w^ages of unskilled labor. [Ap-
plause.] This attempt to classify and schedule the men who are
benefited by a protective tariff is utterly deceptive. [Applause. ]
The benefits are felt by all classes of our people — by the farmer as
well as by the workmen in our mills ; by the man who works on
the street as well as the skilled laborer who works in the mill ; by
the women in the household, and by the children who are now in
the schools and might otherwise be in the mills. [Applause.] It
is a policy broad enough to embrace within the scope of its benefi-
158 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
cent influence all our population. [Applause. ] I thank you for
your visit, and will be glad to meet any of you personally who de-
sire to speak to me. [Applause.]
INDIANAPOLIS, OCTOBER 3.
THE Porter-Columbian Club, a local organization named
in honor of Governor Porter, with a membership of TOO
workingmen, paid their respects to General Harrison on
this night, commanded by their President and founder,
Marshall C. Woods, who delivered an address.
General Harrison, in reply, said :
Mr. Woods and my Friends — My voice is not in condition to
speak at much length in this cool night air I am very deeply
grateful for this evidence of the respect of this large body of
Indianapolis workingmen. I am glad to be assured by what has
been said to me that you realize that this campaign has a special
interest for the wage-earners of America. [Cries of "Good!
Good !"]
That is the first question in life with you, because it involves the
subsistence and comfort of your families. I do not wonder then
that, out of so many different associations in life, you have come
together into this organization to express your determination to
vote for the maintenance of the American system of protection.
[Great cheering. ]
I think you can all understand that it is not good for American
workingmen that the amount of work to be done in this country
should be diminished by transferring some of it to foreign shops.
[Applause.] Nor ought the wages paid for the work that is done
here to be diminished by bringing you into competition with the
underpaid labor of the old country. [Applause.]
I am not speaking any new sentiment to-night. Many times be-
fore the Chicago convention I have, in public addresses, expressed
the opinion that every workingman ought to have such wages as
would not only yield him a decent and comfortable support for his
family, and enable him to keep his children in school and out of
the mill in their tender age, but would allow him to lay up against
incapacity by sickness or accident, or for old age, some fund on
which he could rely. These views 1 entertain to-night. I beg you
to excuse further public speech and to alkrvjr me to receive person-
ally such of you as care to speak to me. [ Applause. J
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 159
INDIANAPOLIS, OCTOBER 4.
THREE States did homage to the Republican nominee
this date. From Grand Rapids and Muskegon, Mich.,
came 500 visitors, under the auspices of the Belknap Club
of Grand Rapids. The wife of Governor Luce was a
member of the delegation, accompanied by R. C. Luce and
W. A. Davitt. Other prominent members were : Judge
F. J. Russell, Hon. A. B. Turner, Col. C. T. Foote, J. B.
Pantlind, Don J. Leathers, Col. E. S. Pierce, Wm. A.
Gavett, H. J. Felker, D. G. Grotty, H. J. Stevens, Aldrich
Tateum, Louis Kanitz, A. E. Yerex, and K McGraft, of
Grand Rapids ; Thomas A. Parish and Geo. Turner, of
Grand Haven ; and John J. Cappon, of Holland. John
Patton, Jr., of Grand Rapids, was orator.
The Ohio visitors came from Tiffin, Seneca County,
led by the venerable A. C. Baldwin, Capt. John McCor-
mick, Albert Corthell, Capt. Edward Jones, Edward
Nay lor, and J. B. Rosenburger. The wife of Gen. Wm.
H. Gibson was an honored guest of the delegation, accom-
panied by Mrs. Robert Lysle and Mrs. Root. J. K. Rohn
was spokesman for the Ohio visitors.
The third delegation comprised 1,200 voters from Jay
County, Indiana, led by Gen. N. Shepherd, Theodore Bai-
ley, Richard A. Green, John Geiger, E. J. Marsh, Frank
H. Snyder, and M. V. Moudy, of Portland. Jesse M. La
Follette was their speaker.
To these several addresses General Harrison, in response,
said:
My Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana Friends — These cordial mani-
festations of your personal regard move me very deeply [applause] ,
but I do not at all appropriate to myself the great expressions of
popular interest of which this meeting is only one. I understand
that my relation to these public questions and to the people is a
representative one — that the interest which thus expresses itself is
in principles of government rather than in men. [Cheers. ] I am
one of the oldest Republicans ; my first presidential vote was given
160 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
to the first Republican candidate for that office [applause] , and it
has always been a source of profound gratification to me that, in
peace and war, a high spirit of patriotism and devotion to our
country has always pervaded and dominated the party. [Cheers. ]
When, during the Civil War, the clouds hung low, disasters thick-
ened, and the future was crowded with uncanny fears, never did
any Republican convention assemble without declaring its faith in
the ultimate triumph of our cause [great cheering] ; and now, with
a broad patriotism that embraces and regards the interests of all
the States, it advocates policies that will develop and unite all our
communities in the friendly and profitable interchange of com-
merce as well as in a lasting political union. [Applause. ] These
great Western State-swill not respond to the attempt to excite prej-
udice against New England. We advocate measures that are as
broad as our national domain ; that are calculated to distil their
equal blessing upon all the land. [Cheers.] The people of the
great West recognize and value the great contribution which those
commonwealths about Plymouth Rock have made to the civiliza-
tion, material growth, and manhood of our Western States.
[Cheers. ] We are not envious of the prosperity of New England ;
we rejoice in it. We believe that the protective policy developed
her great manufacturing institutions and made her rich, and we do
not doubt that a continuance of that policy will produce the 'same
results in Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana. [Cheers.] We are not
content to remain wholly agricultural States in our relations to
either New England or old England. [Applause.] We believe
that in all these great Western States there are minerals in the soil
and energy and skill in the brains and arms of our people that will
yet so multiply and develop our manufacturing industries as to
give us a nearer home market for much of the products of our soil.
[Cheers.] And for that great surplus which now and always, per-
haps, we shall not consume at home we think a New England mar-
ket better than a foreign market. [Enthusiastic and prolonged
cheering.] The issue upon this great industrial question is drawn
as sharply as the lines were ever drawn between contending armies.
Men are readjusting their party relations upon this great question.
The appeal that is now made for the defence of our American sys-
tem is finding its response, and many of those who are opposed to
us upon other questions are committing such questions to the fut-
ure for settlement, while they help us to settle now and for an in-
definite future the great question of the preservation of our com-
mercial independence. [Applause.] The Democratic party has
challenged our protected industries to a fight of extermination.
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 161
The wage -earners of our country have accepted the- challenge. The
issue of the contest will settle for many years our tariff policy.
[Prolonged cheering.] The eloquent descriptions to which we
have listened of the material wealth of the great State of Michigan
have been full of interest to us as citizens of Indiana. We cannot
doubt that the people of a State having such generous invitations
to the developments of great home wealth in manufacturing and
mining pursuits will understand the issue that is presented, and
will cast their influence in favor of that policy which will make
that development rapid and sure ; and more than all, and better
than all, will maintain in her communities a well-paid class of
wage -workers. [Cheers.] Our wage-workers vote ; they are Amer-
ican citizens, and it is essential that they be kept free from the
slavery of want and the discontents bred of injustice. [Applause. ]
I thank my Michigan friends for these handsome specimens of
the products of their mines and of their mills. I shall cherish
them with grateful recollection of this pleasant visit. [Applause. ]
To my Indiana friends, always generous, I return my thanks for
this new evidence of their esteem. [Cheers.]
To my Ohio friends, who so often before have visited me with
kind expressions of their regard, I return the thanks of a native-
born Ohioan. [Prolonged cheers from the Ohio delegation. ]
Three great States are grouped here to-day. I remember at
Resaca, when the field and staff of the regiments that were to make
the assault were ordered to dismount, there was a Michigan officer
too sick to go on foot and too proud to subject himself to the impu-
tation of cowardice by staying behind.
He rode alone, the one horseman in that desperate charge, and
died on that bloody hillside rather than subject his State to the im-
putation that one of her sons had lingered when the enemy was to
be engaged. He was a noble type of the brave men these great
States gave to the country. [Cheers. ]
INDIANAPOLIS, OCTOBER 5.
WISCONSIN and Indiana were the States represented at
this day's reception. The Wisconsin visitors came from
Madison, Janesville, and Beloit. Prominent among them
were General Atwood, editor Wisconsin State Journal,
Surgeon-General Palmer, W. T. Van Kirk, and T. G.
Maudt. R. C. Spooner spoke for the Badgers.
162 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
Fountain County, Indiana, sent 2,000 visitors, led by
a club of Tippecanoo veterans. Among their represent-
ative men were H. La Tourette, W. W. Layton, John
H. Spence, of Covington; A. H. Clark, and W. H. Malory,
of Veedersburg; A. S. Peacock, H.C.Martin, and C. E.
Holm, of Attica. Capt. Benj. Hegeler,of Attica, delivered
the address on behalf of the Hoosiers.
General Harrison responded as follows:
My Wisconsin and my Indiana Friends — These great daily mani-
festations of the interest of great masses of our people in the prin-
ciples represented by the Republican party are to me increasingly
impressive. I am glad to-day that Indiana has opportunity to wel-
come a delegation from the magnificent State of Wisconsin.
[Cheers. ] It offers a fitting opportunity to acknowledge my per-
sonal obligation and the obligation of the Indiana Republicans for
the early and constant support which Wisconsin gave to the efforts
of the Indiana delegation in the Chicago convention. [Prolonged
cheers.] To-day two States, not contiguous in territory, but touch-
ing in many interests, are met to express the fact that these great
electoral contests affect all our people. It is not alone in the choice
of Presidential electors that we have common interests. Our na-
tional Congress, though chosen in separate districts, legislates for
all our people. Wisconsin has a direct interest that the ballot shall
be free and pure in Indiana, and Wisconsin and Indiana have a
direct interest that the ballot shall be free and pure in all the States.
[Great cheering. ] Therefore let no man say that it is none of our
business how elections are conducted in other States. [Cheers. ] I
believe that this great question of a free ballot, so much disturbed
by race questions in the South, would be settled this year if the
men of the South who believe with us upon the great question of
the protection of American industries would throw off old preju-
dices and vote their convictions upon that question. [Cheers and
cries of "Good! Good!"] I believe there are indications that the
independent manhood of the South will this year strongly manifest
itself in this direction. Those intelligent and progressive citizens
of the South who are seeking to build up within their own States
diversified industries will not much longer be kept in bondage to
the traditions of the days when the South was wholly a commu-
nity of planters.
When they assert their belief in a protective tariff, by support-
ing the only party that advocates that policy, the question of a
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 1<»3
free ballot, so far as it is a Southern question, will be settled for-
ever, for they will have the power to insist that those who believe
with them shall vote, and that their votes shall be counted. [Ap-
plause.] The protective policy, by developing a home supply and
limiting importations, helps us to maintain the balance of trade
upon our side in our dealings with the world. [Cheers. ] Under
the tariff of 1846 from the year 1850 to 1860 the balance of trade
was continuously against us, aggregating in that period over three
hundred millions of dollars. Under the influence of a protective
tariff the balance of trade has been generally and largely with us,
unless disturbed by special conditions. Instead of sending our
gold abroad to pay a foreign balance we have usually been bring-
ing foreign gold here to augment our store. [Cheers.] I will not
detain you further. These daily demands upon me make it neces-
sary that I shall speak briefly. Let me thank most profoundly
those gentlemen and ladies from Wisconsin who have come so far
to bring me this tribute of their respect. I very highly value it.
These, my Indiana friends, unite with me in thanking you for
your presence to-day. [Cheers from the Indianians. ] To my nearer
friends, my Fountain County friends, let me say I am profoundly
grateful to you for this large and imposing demonstration and for
the interest you are individually taking in this campaign. [Cheers. ]
I do not think of it as a personal campaign. It has always seemed
to me to be altogether greater than that, and when I thank you for
your interest and commend your zeal it is an interest in principles
and a zeal for the truth that I approve. [Cheers.]
INDIANAPOLIS, OCTOBER 6.
SATURDAY, October G, was one of the great days of the
campaign. The first delegation, numbering 2,000, came
from Wells and Blackford counties, Indiana. Conspicu-
ous in their ranks were two large uniformed clubs of
ladies, one from Montpelier, and the Carrie Harrison Club
of Bluff ton. In the Wells County contingent were many
1840 veterans and 21 newly-converted Democrats. Their
leaders were Asbury Duglay, D. H. Swaim, B. W. Bow-
man, Peter Ulmer, Silas Wisner, Joseph Milholland, J.
C. Hatfield, and T. A. Doan. J. J. Todd was their spokes-
man. Prominent in the Blackford delegation were Frank
164 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
Geisler, H. M. Campbell, W. L. Hitter, Eli Hamilton, R.
V. Ervin, W. A. Williams, John Sipe, and John Cantwell,
of Hartford City; J. C. Summervffle, Win. Pugh, J. H.
Morrical, G. A. Mason, John G. Ward, and J. M. Tinsley,
of Montpelier. Hon. B. G. Shinn delivered the address on
behalf of the Blackford people.
General Harrison confined his speech to State questions.
He said :
My Wells and Blackford County Friends — I am glad to meet you.
It is extremely gratifying to be assured by your presence here this
inclement day, and by the kind words which you have addressed
to me through your representatives, that I have some part in your
friendly regard as an individual. But individuals are not of the
first importance. That man who thinks that the prosperity of this
country or the right administration of its affairs is wholly depen-
dent upon him grossly exaggerates his value. The essential things
to us are the principles of government upon which our institutions
were builded, and by and through which we make that symmetri-
cal and safe growth which has characterized our Nation in the past,
and which is yet to raise it to a higher place among the nations
of the earth. [Applause.] We are Indianians — Hoosiers, if you
please [cheers] — and are proud of the State of which we are citi-
zens. Your spokesmen have referred with an honest pride to th<s
counties from which you have come, and that is well. But I would
like to suggest to you that every political community and neighbor-
hood has a character of its own, a moral character, as well as every
man and every woman, and it is exceedingly important, looked at
even from the side of material advantage, that our communities
should maintain a good reputation for social order, intelligence,
virtue, and a faithful and willing obedience to law. [Applause.]
It cannot be doubted that such a character possessed by any State
or county attracts immigration and capital, advances its material
development, and enhances the value of its farms. There has been
much in the history of Indiana that is exceedingly creditable.
There have been some things — there are some things to-day — that
are exceedingly discreditable to us as a political community ; things
that I believe retard the advancement of our State and affect its
material prosperity by degrading it in the estimation of right-think-
ing men. One of those things is this patent and open fact : that
the great benevolent institutions of this State, instead of being op-
erated upon the high plane that public charities should occupy, are
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 105
being operated and managed upon the lowest plane of party pur-
poses and advantage. [Cries of "That's so !"] Another such thing
is of recent occurrence. In the campaign of 1886, after advising
with the chief law officer of the State, a Democratic Governor de-
clared to the people of this State that there was a vacancy in the
office of Lieutenant- Governor which the people were entitled to fill
at the ensuing general election. The Democratic party acted upon
that advice, assembled in convention in this hall, and nominated ,
John C. Nelson for Lieutenant -Governor. The Republican party
followed with their convention, and placed in nomination that gal-
lant soldier, Robert S. Robertson. [Cheers. ] These two gentlemen
went before the people of Indiana and made a public canvass for
the office. The election was held, and Colonel Robertson was chosen
by a majority of about 3,000. [Applause.] Is there a man in the
State, Democratic or Republican, who doubts that if the choice had
been otherwise, and Mr. Nelson had received a majority at the
polls, the House of Representatives, which was Republican, would
have met with the Democratic Senate in an orderly joint meeting,
for canvassing the votes, and that Mr. Nelson would have been in-
augurated as Lieutenant -Governor? [Cries of "No, no!"] But the
result was otherwise ; and the public fame, the good reputation of
this State, was dishonored when, by force and brutal methods, the
voice of the people was stifled, and the man they had chosen was
excluded from the right to exercise the duties of the office of
Lieutenant -Governor. [Cries of "Yes, yes !"] Do the people think
that the attractiveness of Indiana as a home for Americans who be-
lieve in social order and popular government has been increased
by this violent and disgraceful incident? Do our Democratic
friends who have an honest State pride, who would like to main-
tain the honor and good reputation of the State, who would have
the people of our sister States believe that we have a people who
believe in a warm canvass but in a free ballot, and a manly and
ready acquiescence in election results, intend to support their lead-
ers in this violent exclusion from office of a duly chosen public
officer? Do those who are Democrats from principle, and not 'for
personal spoils, intend to support the men who have first prosti-
tuted our benevolent institutions to party and now to personal ad-
vantage? These things, if not reproved and corrected by our people,
will not only disgrace us in the estimation of all good people, but
will substantially retard the material development of the State.
[Cheers.] I am not talking to-day of questions in which I have
any other interest than that you have, my fellow-citizens. [Ap-
plause. ] I believe the material prosperity of Indiana, much more
1G6 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
the honor, will be advanced if her people in this State election
shall rebuke the shameless election frauds that have recently scan-
dalized .our State, the prostitution of our benevolent institutions,
and the wanton violence that overturned the result of the popular
election in 1886. [Great cheering. ]
THE CHICAGO VETERANS.
THE great event of the day was the reception tendered
the veterans and citizens from Chicago, Hyde Park, Pull-
man, South Chicago, and the town of Lake. They num-
bered over 3,000, and arrived in the evening, after stopping
en route at Danville, 111., and Crawfordsville, Ind., to
participate in demonstrations. The Chicago contingent
comprised 800 members of the Union Veteran Club, com-
manded by its President, Capt. John J. Healy ; 600 mem-
bers of the Veteran Union League, led by Capt. James J.
Healy; the Elaine Club, Second Regiment Band, and
many smaller clubs. Leaders in the delegation were Major
McCarty, Col. Dan. W. Munn, Hon. Stephen A. Douglas,
Jr., S. W. King, Charles H. Hann, and others. Hyde
Park sent several hundred rolling-mill men ; the city of
Pullman 200 car-builders ; the town of Lake — " the largest
village in the world" — was represented by a flambeau
club, the Lake View Screw Club, and numerous other or-
ganizations. Their leading representatives were Col. J.
Hodgkins, Judge C. M. Hawley, Hon. John E. Cowells,
Hon. B. E. Hoppin, Geo. C. Ingham, Judge Freen, Hon.
L. D. Condee, Joseph Hardacre, Edward Maher, M. J.
McGrath, A. G. Proctor, Frank I. Bennett, and Col. Fos-
ter.
The visitors were met by about 10,000 citizens and es-
corted to Tomlinson Hall. When General Harrison ap-
peared, accompanied by Judge E. B. Martindale, Chair-
man of the Reception Committee, there ensued a scene
never to be forgotten by those who witnessed it. The 0,000
HARRISON'S SPEECHES*. ] (57
people present arose to their chairs, surrounding the visit-
ing veterans, all frantically waving flags and banners.
The demonstration continued without abatement for ten
minutes. General Harrison stood as if dazed by the spec-
tacle. Finally ex-Governor Hamilton, of Illinois, secured
quiet, and on behalf of the veterans addressed the gather-
ing, followed by Judge E. W. Keightly on behalf of the
Hyde Park visitors.
General Harrison's response was by many regarded as
his greatest speech of the campaign. He said :
Comrades and Friends — It is a rare sight, and it is one very full
of interest to us as citizens of Indiana, to see this great hall filled
with the people of another State, come to evidence their interest
in great principles of government. [Cheers.] I welcome to-night
for myself and for our people this magnificent delegation from
Chicago and Hyde Park. [Cheers. ] We have not before in the
procession of these great delegations seen its equal in numbers, en-
thusiasm, and cordiality. I thank you profoundly for whatever of
personal respect there is in this demonstration [cheers] , but above
all, as an American citizen, I rejoice in this convincing proof that
our people realize the gravity and urgency of the issues involved in
"this campaign. [Cheers. ] I am glad to know that this interest
pervades all classes of our people. [Cheers.] This delegation,
composed of the business men of Chicago and of the men who
wield the hammer in the shops, shows a common interest in the
right decision of these great questions. [Great cheers.]
Our Government is not a government by classes or for classes of
our fellow-citizens. [Cheers.] It is a government of the people
and by the people. [Renewed cheering.] Its wise legislation dis-
tils its equal blessings upon the homes of the rich and the poor.
[Cheers.] I am especially glad that these skilled, intelligent work-
men coming out of your great workshops have manifested, by their
coining, to their fellow- workmen throughout the country their ap-
preciation of what is involved for them in this campaign. [Pro-
longed cheers. ]
May that God who has so long blessed us as a Nation long defer
that evil day when penury shall be a constant guest in the homes
of our working people, and long preserve to us that intelligent,
thrifty and cheerful body of workmen that was our strength in
war and is our guaranty of social order in time of peace ! [Great
cheering.] Comrades of the Civil War, it was true of the great
108 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
Union army, as it is said to be of the kingdom of heaven — not
many rich. [Cheers.] It was out of the homes of our working
people the great army came. It was the strong arm inured to
labor on the farm or in the shop tha.t bore up the flag in the smoke
of battle, carried it through storms of shell and shot, and lifted it
again in honor over our national Capital. [Prolonged cheers. ]
After so many historical illustrations of the evil effects of aban-
doning the policy of protection for that of a revenue tariff, we
are again confronted by the suggestion that the principle of protec-
tion shall be eliminated from our tariff legislation. Have we not
had enough of such experiments? Does not the history of our tar-
iff legislation tell us that every revenue tariff has been followed by
business and industrial crashes, and that a return to the policy of
protection has stimulated our industries and set our throbbing
workshops again in motion? [Cheers.] And yet, again and again,
the Democratic party comes forward with this pernicious proposi-
tion— for it has been from that party always that the proposition
to abandon our protective policy and to substitute a revenue tariff
has come. [Cries of "That's so!"]
I had placed in my hands yesterday a copy of the London News
for September 13. The editor says in substance that, judging the
purposes of the Democratic party by the executive message of last
December, the English people were justified in believing that party
meant free trade ; but if they \vere to accept the more recent utter-
ances of its leader, protesting that that wTas not their purpose, then
the editor thus states the issue presented by the Democratic party.
I read but a single sentence "It is, at any rate, a contest between
protection and something that is not protection. " [Prolonged and
wrild cheering.] It is not of the smallest interest to you what that
other thing is. [Continued cheering. ] It is enough to know that
it is not protection. [Renewed cheering. ] Those who defend the
present Democratic policy declare that our people not only pay the
tariff duty upon all imported goods, but that a corresponding
amount is added to the price of every domestic competing article.
That for every dollar that is paid into the Treasury in the form of
a customs duty the people pay several dollars more in the enhanced
cost of the domestic competing article. Those who honestly hold
such doctrines cannot stop short of the absolute destruction of our
protective system. [Cries of "No, no!"] The man who- preaches
such doctrines and denies that he is on the road to free trade is
like the man who takes passage on a train scheduled from here to
Cincinnati without a stop, and when the train is speeding on its
way at the rate of forty miles an hour, denies that he is going to
HAREISOX'S SPEECHES. 109
Cincinnati. [Great laughter and cheering.] The impulse of such
logic draws toward free trade as surely and swiftly as that engine
pulls the train to its appointed destination. It inevitably brings
us to the English rule of levying duties only upon such articles as
we do not produce at home, such as tea and coffee. That is purely
revenue tariff, and is practically free trade.
Against this the Republican party proposes that our tariff duty
shall be of an intelligent purpose, be levied chiefly upon competing
articles. [Cheers.] That our American workmen shall have the
benefit of discriminating duties upon the products of their labor.
[Cheers.] The Democratic policy increases importation, and, by
so much, diminishes the work to be done in America. It transfers
work from the shops of South Chicago to Birmingham. [Cries of
"Right you are !"] For, if a certain amount of any manufactured
article is necessary for a year's supply to our people, and we in-
crease the amount that is brought from abroad, by just so much we
diminish the amount that is made at home, and in just that propor-
tion we throw out of employment the men that are working here.
And not only so, but when this equal competition is established
between our shops and the foreign shops, there is not a man here
who does not know that the only condition under which the Amer-
ican shop can run at all is that it shall reduce the wages of its em-
ployees to the level of the wages paid in the competing shops
abroad. [Cheers.] This is, briefly, the whole story. I believe we
should look after and protect our American workingmen ; there-
fore I am a Republican. [Renewed enthusiastic cheering.]
But I will not detain you longer. [Cries of "Go on!"] You
must excuse me ; I have been going on for three months. [A
voice, "And you'll go on for four years !"] I am somewhat under
restraint in what I can say, and others here are somewhat under
restraint as to what they can appropriately say in my presence. I
beg you therefore to allow me, after thanking you again for your
kindness, to retire that others who are here may address you.
[Great cheering. ]
170 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
INDIANAPOLIS, OCTOBER 11.
IN point of numbers the greatest day of the Indiana cam-
paign was Thursday, October 11, when over 50,000 visitors
arrived from all points in Indiana and along the border
counties of Ohio to participate in the greeting to the
Hon. James G. Elaine, who was the guest of General Har-
rison.
From the balcony of the New-Denison Hotel General
and Mrs. Harrison, accompanied by Mr. Elaine, Gen.
Adam King, of Baltimore; Col. A. L. Snowden and Gen.
D. H. Hastings, of Pennsylvania; Col. M. J. Murray, of
Massachusetts; Gen. W. C. Plummer, of Dakota; Cor-
poral James Tanner, of New York ; ex-Senator Ferry, of
Michigan; Hon. R. W. Thompson, ex-Governor A. G.
Porter, Hon. J. N.Huston, Gen. A. P. Hovey, and Ira J.
Chase, reviewed probably the greatest political parade ever
witnessed in this country outside of the city of New York.
Twenty-five thousand men constituted the marching col-
umn, in nine great divisions, commanded by Col. Charles
S. Millard, Chief Marshal, with Gen. James S. Carnahan,
Chief of Staff, and 200 aids. The division commanders
and principal aids were :
First Division, Gen. N. R. Ruckle, of Indianapolis.
Chief of Staff, Charles J. Many, of Indianapolis.
Second Division, Capt. H. M. Caylor, of Noblesville.
Chief of Staff, Major J. M. Watt, of Delphi.
Third Division, John "W. Lovett, of Anderson. Chief
of Staff, Col. George Parker.
Fourth Division, Gen. Tom Bennett, of Richmond.
Chief of Staff, Capt. Ira B. Myers, of Peru.
Fifth Division, Col. T. C. Burnside, of Liberty. Chief
of Staff, J. W. Ream, of Muncie.
Sixth Division, Col. J. M. Story, of Franklin. Chief of
Staff, Capt. David Wilson, of Martinsville.
HARRISON'S SPEECHES, 171
Seventh Division, Col. W. R. McClellen, of Danville.
Chief of Staff, Capt. W. H. Armstrong, of Terre Haute.
Eighth Division, Capt. T. H. B. McCain, of Crawfords-
ville. Chief of Staff, Edward Watson, of Brazil.
Ninth Division, Capt. J. O. Pedigo, of Lebanon. Chief
of Staff, C. C. Shirley, of Kokomo.
Mr. Blaine visited the Exposition grounds in the after-
noon, where Major W. H. Calkins introduced him to an
audience of about 30,000, to whom he addressed a few
words. At night Mr. Blaine delivered one of hie masterly
speeches at Tomlinson Hall to an audience of 6,000. At
the close of the Blaine meeting General Harrison received
a delegation from Cincinnati, consisting of A. B. Horton,
H. D. Emerson, Wm. Fredberger, James A. Graff, H. R.
Probasco, Dr. M. T. Carey, Abram Myer, Fred Pryor, and
Walter Hartpense, who called to invite him to attend the
Cincinnati Exposition on "Republican Day." A St. Louis
delegation, members of the Loyal Legion, also paid their
respects. Among them were Col. R. C. Kerens, Col. Nelson
Cole, Col. J. S. Butler, Major W. R. Hodges, Captain
Gleason, G. B. Adams, H. L. Merrill, C. H. Sampson, and
W. B. Gates.
On October 18 a party of distinguished railroad mag-
nates visited General Harrison. They were Hon. Chauncey
M. Depew, J. D. Layng, H. W. Webb, Sam'l Barton, Sew-
ard C. Webb, and C. F. Cox, of New York; J. De Koven,
of Chicago; S. M. Beach, of Cleveland, and J. Q. Van
Winkle, of St. Louis.
On October 19 General Harrison received informally i
150 survivors of the Eleventh Indiana Regiment, headed
by their first colonel, Gen. Lew Wallace, and General
McGinnis.
1?2 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
INDIANAPOLIS, OCTOBER 13.
Two large and influential organizations visited General
Harrison on October 13. From Milwaukee came 400 mem-
bers of the Young Men's Republican Club — Paul D. Car-
penter, President; George Russell, Secretary. Among
other prominent members were Samuel Chandler, who or-
ganized the pilgrimage, and Walter W. Pollock. Presi-
dent Carpenter — son of the late Senator Matt Carpenter —
and C. S. Otjen, a wage-worker, were spokesmen for tjie
club.
The second and largest delegation was the Chicago Ger-
man-American Republican Club — Franz Amberg, Presi-
dent ; F. J. Buswick, Secretarjr. Accompanying them was
the Excelsior Band and sixteen voices from the Orpheus
Maennerchor Society of Chicago. Among the widely
known members with the club were Hon. Chris. Mamer,
Louis Huck, Peter Hand, Edward Bert, Peter Mahr,
Henry Wulf, City Treasurer Plantz, K F. Plotke, and
Alderman Tiedemann. As General Harrison entered the
hall the reception exercises were opened by the Maenner-
chor Society with the inspiring hymn — "This is the Lord's
own day." Addresses on behalf of the visitors were made
by Hon. Wm. Vocke, Henry Greenbaum, and Andrew
Soehngen; also, General Fred Knefler for the German
Republicans of Indiana, and Hon A. B. Ward, of Dakota.
General Harrison, responding to both visiting delega-
tions, said:
My Friends of the German -American Republican Club of Chicago,
and of the Club of Milwaukee, and my Home German Friends — I
am very grateful for the kind words you have addressed to me.
The long journey most of you have taken upon this inclement day
to tender your respects to me as the candidate of the Republican
party is very convincing evidence that you believe this civil con-
test to be no mock tournament, but a very real and a very decisive
battle for great principles. [Cheers]. My German-American
friends, you are a home-loving people ; father, mother, wife, child
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 173
are words that to you have a very full and a very tender meaning.
[Cheers. ] The old father and mother never outlive the veneration
and love of the children in a German household. [Cheers. ] You
have come from the fatherland in families, and have set up again
here the old hearth -stones. Out of this love of home there is nat-
urally horn a love of country — it is only the widening of the family
circle — and so our fellow-citizens of German birth and descent did
not fail to respond with alacrity and enthusiasm to the call of their
adopted country when armies were mustered for the defence of the
Union. [Cheers. ] The people of Indiana will long remember the
veteran Willichand the Thirty-second Regiment of Indiana Volun-
teers (or First German), which he took into the field in 1861. The
repulse by this regiment alone of an attacking force under General
Hindman of 1,100 infantry, a battalion of Texas Rangers, and four
pieces of artillery at Rowlett's Station, in December, 1861, filled
our people with enthusiasm and pride. Again and again the im-
petuous Texas horsemen threw themselves with baffled fury upon
that square of brave hearts. No bayonet point was lowered, no
skulker broke the wall of safety that enclosed the flag. [Cheers. ]
Your people are industrious, thrifty, and provident. To lay by
something is one of life's earliest lessons in a German home. These
national traits naturally drew your people to the support of the Re-
publican party when it declared for freedom and free homes in the
Territories. [Cheers. ] They secured your adherence to the cause of
the Union in the Civil War. They gave us your help in the long
struggle for resumption and an honest currency, and I do not doubt
that they will now secure your sympathy and help in this great
contest in behalf of our American homes. Your people are largely
wage-earners. They have prospered under a protective tariff, and
will not, I am sure, vote for such a change in our tariff policy as
will cut off from their wages that margin which they are now able
to lay aside for old age and for their children.
And now a word to my young friends from Wisconsin. You
have come into the possession of the suffrage at an important, if
not critical, time in our public affairs. The Democratic party out
of power was a party of negations. It did not secure its present
lease of power upon the platform or the policies it now supports and
advocates. [Cheers. ] The campaign of 1884 was not made" upon
the platform of a tariff for revenue only. Our workingmen were
soothed with phrases that implied some regard to their interests,
and Democrats who believed in a protective tariff were admitted
to the party councils and gladly heard in public debate. [Cheers.]
But four years of power have changed all this. Democrats who
174 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
thought they could be protectionists and still maintain their party
standing have been silenced or their opinions coerced. The issue
is now distinctly made between " protection and something that is
not protection. " [Cheers. ] The Republican party fearlessly accepts
the issue and places itself upon the side of the American home and
the American workingman. [Cheers.] We invite these young
men who were too young to share the glory of the struggle for our
political unity to a part in this contest for the preservation of our
commercial independence. [Cheers.]
And now to these friends who are the bearers of gifts, one word
of thanks. I especially value this cane as a token of the confidence
and respect of the workingmen of Bay View. [Cheers. ] I accept
their gift with gratitude, and would wish you, sir, to bear in re-
turn my most friendly regards and good wishes to eveiy one of
them. I do not need to lean on this beautiful cane, but I do feel
like resting upon the intelligent confidence of the men who sent it.
[Great cheering. ] I am glad to know that they have not stumbled
over the simple problem that is presented for their consideration in
this campaign. They know that an increase of importation means
diminished work in American shops. [Cheers.] To my friend
who brings this beautiful specimen of American workmanship,
this commonly accepted token of good luck, I give my thanks.
But we will not trust wholly in this symbol of good luck. The
earnest individual effort of the American people only can make the
result of this contest so decisive, so emphatic, that we shall not for
a generation hear any party contest the principle that our tariff laws
shall adequately protect our own workingmen. [Great cheering. ]
INDIANAPOLIS, OCTOBER 17.
OHIO'S chief executive, Gov. Joseph B. Foraker, es-
corted by the Garfield Club and the Fourteenth Regiment
Band of Columbus, made a pilgrimage to the Republican
Mecca on October 17. The widely known Columbus Glee
Club accompanied them. Among the prominent Repub-
licans with the delegation were Auditor of State Poe, Ad-
jutant-General Axline,' Hon. Estes G. Rathbone, C. L.
Kurtz, D. W. Brown, C. E. Prior, L. D. Hogerty, J. W.
Firestone, and Ira H. Crum. Escorted bv the Columbia
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 175
Club, the Buckeyes marched to the residence of General
Harrison and were introduced by Governor Foraker.
In response to their greeting General Harrison said :
Gentlemen — It was very appropriate that these representative Ohio
Republicans should accompany to the State of Indiana your distin-
guished Governor, whose presence among us to-day is so welcome
to our people. We know his story as the young Ohio volunteer,
the fearless champion of Republican principles in public debate,
and the resolute, courageous, and sagacious executive of the great
State of Ohio. [Applause. ] We welcome him and we welcome
you. The fame of this magnificent glee club has preceded them.
We are glad to have an opportunity to hear you.
To these members of the Garfield Club I return my thanks for
this friendly call. You bear an honored name. I look back with
pleasure to the small contribution I was able to make in Indiana
toward securing the electoral vote of this State to that great son
of Ohio, whose tragic death spread gloom and disappointment over
our land. I welcome you as citizens of my native State — a State I
shall always love, because all of my early associations are with it.
In this State, to which I came in my earliest manhood, the Repub-
licans are as stanch and true, as valorous and resolute, as can be
found in any of the States. You have no advantage of us except
in numbers. We welcome you all as Republicans. [A voice,
"That's what we are !"] We believe that our party now advocates
another great principle that needs to be established — made fast —
put where it shall be beyond assault. It is a principle which has
wrought marvellously in the development of our country since the
war. It has enabled us to handle a great national debt, which our
desponding Democratic friends said would inevitably sink our coun-
try into bankruptcy, so that we are not troubled about getting the
money to pay our maturing bonds, but are getting it faster than
our bonds mature. We need to establish this principle of protec-
tion, the defence of our American workers against the degrading
and unfriendly competition of pauper labor in all other countries
[cheers], so unmistakably that it shall not again be assailed. [A
voice, "Amen!"] Our Democratic friends in previous campaigns
have deceived the people upon this great question by uncertain and
evasive utterances. We are glad to know that now they have
drawn the issue clearly ; we accept it. [Applause. ] If we shall be
able in this campaign, as I believe we will, to arouse our people to
the importance of maintaining our defences against unfair foreign
competition, we shall administer those who believe in revenue tar-
176 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
iffs and in progressive free trade a wholesome lesson— one that will
last them a lifetime. [Cheers. ]
I had resolutely determined when I came upon these steps not to
make a speech. [Laughter and cries of "Go on !"] I am absolutely
determined to stop now. [Laughter. ] I shall be glad to meet the
members of these escort clubs personally in my house. [Three
cheers. J
Later in the day about 100 survivors of the Seventy-
ninth Indiana Regiment, led by their first colonel, Gen-
eral Fred Knefler, called on General Harrison, and were
presented by their leader in a brief speech, in response to
which General Harrison, speaking from his doorway,
said:
General Knefler and Comrades — I am always deeply touched when
my comrades visit me and offer their kindly greetings. I have no
higher ambition than to stand well in the estimation of my com-
rades of the old Union army. I will not speak of any political
topic. These men who stand before me gave the supreme evidence
of their love and devotion to their country. No man could give
more than they offered. The perpetuity of our institutions, the
honor of what General Sherman so felicitously called the "old
glory," demand the country shall always and in every appropriate
way honor and reward the men who kept it a Nation. Whatever
may be said of our great prosperity since the war, and it can
scarcely be exaggerated, if we look for the cause under God, is it
not found in the stout hearts of these men? They have opened this
wide avenue of prosperity and honor in which we are moving. It
will be a shame if our people do not in every way properly recog-
nize that debt and properly honor the men who gave this supreme
evidence of their devotion to the country and its institutions.
Thanking you again for this visit, I will be glad if you will enter
my house and let me meet you personally.
HARRISON'S SPEECHES 177
INDIANAPOLIS, OCTOBER 20.
FOR the fifth time during the campaign the commercial
travellers visited General Harrison, each time with in-
creased numbers. On Saturday, October 20, under the
supervision of the Commercial Travellers' Eepublican Club
of Indianapolis — G. C. Webster, President; Ernest Morris,
Secretary — they held one of the largest and most success-
ful demonstrations of this remarkable campaign. Their
gathering partook of a national character, as large num-
bers of " drummers" were present from Massachusetts, New
York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, Illinois,
Missouri, West Virginia, and Vermont, while every im-
portant city in Indiana sent its complement.
The visitors were received by a local committee of trav-
elling men, consisting of Fred Schmidt, Chairman; C.
McPherson, Win. Faucet, Joseph Stubbs, Jeff Cook, Ed.
Allcott, J. C. Norris, M. P. Green, Geo. White, O. W. Mor-
man, Chas. D. Pearson, Jeff Taylor, Wm. P. Bone, Henry
Ramey, Albert A. Womack, John A. Wright, James W.
Muir, and Frank Brough. It was estimated that 40,000
spectators witnessed their fine parade, a conspicuous feat-
ure of which was a big bull covered with a white cloth on
which was printed the words — " John Bull rides the Dem-
ocratic party and we ride John Bull." On his back rode
" Drummer " Dan'l B. Long in an emerald suit, while L.
A. Worch, dressed as Uncle Sam, led the bovine. The
parade was in charge of Chief Marshal J. R. Ross and his
aids. As the column passed their residence it was re-
viewed by General and Mrs. Harrison. Later in the day
the visitors were received at Tomlinson Hall. When
General Harrison appeared a great demonstration oc-
curred. President Webster presided ; the speakers were :
John E. Dowell, of Boston; R. T. Dow, of Atlanta; C. L.
Young and John L. Fennimore, of Columbus, Ohio ; Chae.
178 HARBISON'S SPEECHES.
P. Banks, of Brooklyn; John L. Griffiths and John C. Win-
gate, of Indiana.
General Harrison said.
My Friends— Your times already, I believe, the commercial trav-
ellers have honored me by calling upon me in large delegations.
You have assembled to-day, not from a single State or locality, but
from many States, upon the invitation of your associates of this
city, to show your intelligent interest in the principles that are in-
volved in this campaign. [Cheers. ] I do not need to repeat what
I have said on former occasions, that I very highly value the re-
spect and confidence of the commercial travellers of the United
States. [Cheers.] I value it because I believe they give their
adherence to the party whose candidate I am upon an intelligent
investigation and upon an earnest conviction as to what is good for
the country of which they are citizens. [Cheers.] Who should
be able, better than you, to know the commercial and business
needs of our country? You, whose hand is every day upon the
business pulse of the people ; you, who travel the country up and
down upon all the swift highways of commerce, and who are
brought in contact with the business men of the country, not only
in our great centres of commerce, but in all the hamlets of the
land. I believe I may say for you that, as a result of this per-
sonal knowledge of our business needs, you have concluded that
the policy for America is the policy of a protective tariff. [Great
cheering. ]
There are doubtless here many representatives of great American
manufacturing establishments ; and who should know better than
they the prostrating effects upon the industries they represent of
this policy of a revenue tariff, or the not much differing policy of
free trade? [Cheers.] Who should know better than you that if
the discriminating duties now levied, which enable our American
manufacturers to maintain a fair competition with the manufact-
urers of other countries, and at the same time to pay a scale of
living wages to the men and women who work for them, is once
broken down, American competition with foreign production be-
comes impossible, except by the reduction of the scale of Amer-
ican wages to the level of the wages paid abroad ? [Cheers. ] Cer-
tainly you do not need to be told that that shop or mill that has
the smallest pay-roll in proportion to its production will take the
market. [Cheers.] Certainly you do not need to be told that the
wages now enjoyed by our American workmen are greatly larger
and the comforts thoy enjoy greatly more than those enjoyed by
HARRISOX'S SPEECHES. 170
the working people of any other land. [Cheers. ] Certainly yon
do not need to be told that if the American Government, instead
of patronizing home industries, buys its blankets for the public
service in England there is just that much less work for Amer-
ican workmen to do. [Cheers.] This is to me the beginning and
the end of the tariff question. Since I was old enough to have
opinions or to utter them, I have held to the doctrine that the true
American policy was that which should maintain not only a living
rate of wages, but one with a margin for savings and comfort for
our workmen. I believe that policy is essential to the prosperity
and possibly to the perpetuity of our Government [Cheers. ] The
two propositions that now stare our working people— and our whole
country — in the face are these : competition with foreign countries,
without adequate discriminating and favoring duties, means lower
wages to our working people ; a revenue-only tariff, or progressive
free trade, means larger importations of foreign goods, and that
means less work in America. [Cheers.]
Let our Democratic friends fairly meet these two indisputable
conclusions. How do they do it? [Cries, "They don't; they
can't!"] By endeavoring to prevent and poison the minds of our
working people by utterly false and scandalous campaign stories.
[Enthusiastic cheering. ] Let me say in conclusion that I believe
the managers of the Democratic campaign greatly underestimate
the intelligence, the sense of decency, and the love of fair play
which prevail among our people. [Great cheering.] You will
pardon further remark. The evening is drawing on, and many of
you, I am sure, have been made uncomfortable by your muddy
walk through the streets of our city. I cannot omit, however, to
thank my friends from Lafayette for this beautiful floral tribute
which they have placed at my side — an emblem of their profession.
[Floral gripsack.] I accept it gratefully, and very highly appre-
ciate it as a mark of the confidence and respect of the intelligent
body of my own fellow-citizens of Indiana. [Great cheering. ]
INDIANAPOLIS, OCTOBER 22.
THREE thousand enthusiastic citizens of Springfield,
Clarke County, Ohio, paid their respects to the Republican
nominee on this date, under the auspices of the Republican
White Hat Brigade, Gen. A. S. Bushnell, Commander; E.
T. Themes, Vice-Commander; S. J. Wilkerson, Chief of
180 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
Staff; J. W. R. Cline, Sam'l Hoffman, and J. H. Arbogast,
Aids. The brigade, comprising 2,300 voters, each wear-
ing a white beaver hat, was divided into three regiments
and accompanied by six excellent bands.
The First Regiment was commanded by Col. J. A.
Dickus, Lieut. -Col. Geo. Lentz, Major Henry Harper. Sec-
ond Regiment — Col. Wm. F. Bakhaus, Lieut. -Col. Darwin
Pierce, Major Wm. Robinson. Third Regiment — Col.
H. N. Taylor, Lieut. -Col. Henry Hains, Major P. M.
Hawk. "When General Harrison entered the hall every
Buckeye stood on his chair and frantically waved his high
hat in one hand and a flag in the other. General Bushnell
made the presentation address, to which General Harrison
responded as follows :
General Bushnell and my OJiio Friends — The people of Clarke
County owed me a visit. I recall, with great pleasure, two occa-
sions when I visited your prosperous county and the rich and busy
city of Springfield to speak in behalf of the Republican party and
its candidates. I recall with pleasure the cordiality with which I
was received by your people. [Applause.] I noted then the intel-
ligent interest manifested by the masses of your people in public
questions, and the enthusiasm with which you rallied to the de-
fence of Republican principles. [Cheers.] We are glad to wel-
come you to Indiana, but regret that this inclement day and our
muddy streets have thrown about your visit so many incidents of
discomfort. I hope that you will not allow these incidents to give
you an unfavorable impression of the beautiful capital city of Indi-
ana. [Cheers and cries of "We won't!"] Our people are glad to
have this added evidence of the interest which the people of your
State take in the question which the issue of this campaign will
settle. I say settle, because I believe that the question of the life of
the protective tariff system is now very distinctly presented. The
enemies of the system have left their ambuscades and taken to the
open field, and we are to have a decisive battle over this question.
[Great cheers. ] I believe that never before, in any campaign, has
this question been so fully and ably discussed in the hearing of our
people. [Cheers. ] There can be found nowhere in this country a
better illustration of what a great manufacturing centre will do for
the farmer in enhancing the value of his farm and in furnishing a
home market for his products than the city of Springfield. [Cheers. J
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 181
Your city and county — your merchants and farmers — are prosper-
ous, because you have a great body of well-paid wage-earners in
your great shops and factories. [Cheers. ] It is the policy of the
Republican party to multiply, all through our agricultural regions,
such centres of manufacturing industries as Springfield. [Cheers. ]
It is conceded that to all our working people, all those who earn
their subsistence by toil, this campaign involves most important
interests. I will not pursue in its details this question. You have
heard it discussed, and most of you, perhaps all, have made up
your conclusions. It is of such importance as, wholly without re-
spect to the candidate who may by chance represent it, to be
worthy of the intelligent and earnest thought and vigorous effort
of every American citizen. [Cheers. ] Let me now only thank you
for this most remarkable evidence of the interest of your people.
We have rarely, if it all, seen here, in this long procession of del-
egations, one that equalled that which I see before me now. [Great
cheering. ]
At the conclusion of General Harrison's speech Gen-
eral Bushnell presented him with a highly polished horse-
shoe, manufactured from American steel by S. B. Thomas,
formerly an Englishman. Repeated calls for Mr. Thomas
brought that gentleman out, and there was another pro-
longed demonstration as General Harrison cordially
clasped his hand and said :
I accept with pleasure this product of the skill and industry of
one who, out of his own experience, can speak of the benefits of a
protective tariff. One who sought our land because it offered bet-
ter wages and better hopes [cheers] , and who in his life here has
been able to contrast the condition of working people in England
and in America. [Cheers. ]
INDIANAPOLIS, OCTOBER 25.
DURING the campaign in Indiana several prominent
labor representatives from the East canvassed the State in
advocacy of a protective tariff and the Republican ticket.
Chief among these speakers were Charles H. Litchman, of
Massachusetts, ex-Secretary-General of the Knights of
Labor; John J. Jarrett, Hon. Henry Hall, Eccles Robin-
182 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
son, and Robert D. Layton, of Pennsylvania, and Jeremiah
Murphy, of New York. These gentlemen, assisted by
John R. Rankin, Marshall C. Woods, and other prominent
Indiana labor leaders, signalized the conclusion of their
campaign work by a notable workingmen's demonstra-
tion on October 25. About 10,000 voters from over the
State participated in the parade, led by Chief Marshal
John R. Rankin, assisted by C. A. Rodney, George E.
Clarke, Wm. R. Mounts, John Baker, Fred Andler, Wm.
H. Baughmier, Geo. E. Perry, Lewis Rathbaust, J. N.
Loop, Wm. Cook, Gustave Schneider, John W. Browning,
A. Raphel, and Michael Bamberger.
General Harrison, with Hon. William McKinley, Jr.,
of Ohio, Senator John C. Spooner, of Wisconsin, and Sena-
tor Henry W. Blair, of New Hampshire, reviewed the
column and later attended a great meeting at Tomlinson
Hall. Many ladies occupied seats on the stage, among
them Mrs. Harrison. WThen General Harrison appeared,
escorted by Secretary Litchman, the vast audience arose
and cheered frantically for full five minutes.
L. W. McDaniels, a prominent member of the Typo-
graphical Union, presided, and in his address among
other things said :
We are here to repudiate the authority claimed by a few profes-
sional men to speak for the wage-workers of Indiana, to deny the
truthfulness of their statements, and to contradict the assertion
that there is other than the kindliest feeling among the working-
men of Indiana toward General Harrison. While General Harrison
has never acted the blatant demagogue by making loud professions,
yet we have had evidence of his earnest sympathy and sincere friend-
ship on more than one occasion, notably his advocacy while in the
Senate of the bill making arbitration the means of settlement of
labor troubles and excluding contract labor from our shores. Also
the bill prohibiting the use of convict labor on Government works,
or the purchasing by the Government of any of the products of con-
vict labor.
As General Harrison arose to respond there was another
prolonged outbreak ; he appeared greatly moved, and de-
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 183
livered probably his most earnest speech of the campaign.
The demonstrations of approval were very marked, es-
pecially as the General warmed up to his denials of mat-
ters suggested by Chairman McDaniels' remarks. He said :
Mr. McDaniels and my Friends — I have seen, during this busy
summer, many earnest and demonstrative assemblages of my fel-
low-citizens. I have listened to many addresses full of the kindest
expressions toward me personally ; but, among them all, none have
been more grateful to me, none have more deeply touched me than
this great assemblage of the workingmen of Indiana and these kind
words which have been addressed to me in your behalf. ' [Great
cheering. J There are reasons why this should be so that will read-
ily occur to your minds, and to some cf which Mr. McDaniels has
alluded. Early in this campaign certain people, claiming to speak
for the laboring men, but really in the employ of the Democratic
campaign managers, promulgated through the newspaper press and
by campaign publications that were not given the open endorse-
ment of the Democratic campaign managers, but were paid for by
their funds and circulated under their auspices, a number of false
and scandalous stories relating to my attitude toward organized
labor. [Great and prolonged cheering. ] The purpose of all these
stories was to poison the minds of the workingmen against the
candidate of the party that stands in this campaign for the prin-
ciple of protection to American labor. [Great cheering.] I have
only once, in all the addresses I have made to my fellow-citizens,
alluded to these malicious and scandalous stories, but, now and in
the presence of this great gathering of workingmen, I do pronounce
them to be utterly false. [Tumultuous cheering, waving of flags
and banners, continued for several minutes. ] The story that I ever
said that one dollar a day was enough for a workingmaii, with all
its accompaniments and appendages, is not a perversion of any-
thing I ever said — it is a false creation. [Enthusiastic cheering.]
I will not follow in detail this long catalogue of campaign slanders,
but will only add that it is equally false that anywhere or at any
time I ever spoke disparagingly of my fellow-citizens of Irish na-
tivity or descent. Many of them are now enrolling themselves
on the side of protection for American labor — this created the ne-
cessity for the story. [Cheers. ] I want to say again that those
who pitch a campaign upon so low a level greatly underestimate
the intelligence, the sense of decency, and the love of fair play
of the American people. [Prolonged cheering.] I said to one
of the first delegations that visited me that this was a contest
184 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
of great principles ; that it would be fought out upon the high
plains of truth, and not in the swamps of slander and defama-
tion. [Great cheering.] Those who will encamp their army in
the swamp will abandon the Victory to the army that is on the
heights. [Cheers. ] The Republican party stands to-day as the
bulwark and defence of the wage-earners of this country against a
competition which may reduce American wages even below the
standard they falsely impute to my suggestion. [Cheers.]
There are two very plain facts that I have often stated — and
others more forcibly than I — that it seems to me should be conclu-
sive with the wage-earners of America. The policy of the Demo-
cratic party — the revision of our tariff laws as indicated by the
Democratic party, a revenue-only tariff, or progressive free trade
— means a vast and sudden increase of importations. Is there a
man here so dull as not to know that this means diminished work
in our American shops? [Cheers and cries of "No, no!"] If some
one says that labor is not fully employed now, do you hope it will
be more fully employed when you have transferred one-third of the
work done in our shops to foreign workshops? [Cries of "No,
no !"] If some one tells me that labor is not sufficiently rewarded
here, does he hope to have its rewards increased by striking down
our protective duties and compelling our workmen to compete with
the underpaid labor of Europe? [Cheers.]
I conclude by saying that less work and lower wages are the in-
evitable result of the triumph of the principles advocated by the
Democratic party. [Cheers.]
And now you will excuse further speech from me. [Cries of
"Goon!"] There are here several distinguished advocates of Re
publican principles. You will be permitted to hear now, I under-
stand, from the Hon. Henry W.Blair, a Senator from the State of
New Hampshire, who has been so long at the head of the Commit
tee on Education and Labor in the United States Senate ; and to-
night in this hall you will be permitted to listen to the Hon. Will-
iam McKinley, Jr., of Ohio. Now will you allow me again to
thank you out of a full heart for this cordial tender of your confi-
dence and respect. I felt that in return I could not omit to say
what I have said, not because you needed to be assured of my
friendliness, but in recognition of a confidence that falsehood and
slander could not shake. I have not thought it in good taste to
make many personal references in my public addresses. If any one
thinks it necessary that a comparison should be instituted between
the candidates of the two great parties as to their friendliness to
the reforms demanded by organized labor, I must leave others to
make it. [Great cheering.]
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 185
INDIANAPOLIS, OCTOBER 27.
THE railroad men of Indiana, held their last gathering
of the great campaign on Saturday night, October 27.
Its estimated 7,000 voters participated in their parade
under Chief Marshal A. E>. Shaw and Chief of Staff Geo.
Butler. The Porter Flambeau Club, the Harrison Zou-
aves, and 1,000 members of the Indianapolis Railroad
Club — each man carrying a colored lantern — escorted the
visiting organizations. General Harrison and the Hon.
W. R. McKeen, of Terre Haute, reviewed the brilliant pro-
cession from the balcony of the New-Deiiison and then
repaired to Tomlinson Hall, where the General's arrival
was signalized by an extraordinary demonstration. Chair-
man Finch introduced Hon. Mathew O'Doherty, of Louis-
ville, and A. F. Potts, of Indianapolis, who addressed the
meeting later in the evening.
General Harrison was the first speaker. He said :
My Friends of the Railroad Republican Clubs — Before your com-
mittee waited upon me to request my presence here to-night I had
resolutely determined that I would not make another address in
this campaign. But when they presented their suggestion that I
should meet my railroad friends, I said to them — the kindness
which has been shown to me from an early period in this cam-
paign by the railroad men of Indiana has been so conspicuous and
so cordial that I could not deny any request that is presented in
their name. [Cheers.] And so I am here to-night, not to speak
upon any political topic, but only to express, if I can find words
to express, the deep and earnest thankfulness I feel toward you who
have shown so much kindness and confidence in me. [Cheers.]
Very early in this campaign there were those who sought to make
a breach between you and me. You did not wait for my answer,
but you made answer yourselves. [Cheers. ] And time and again
you have witnessed your faith that my disposition toward you and
toward the men who toil for 'their living was one of friendliness,
and the principles which I represented and have always advocated
were those that promoted the true interests of the workingmen of
America. [Cheers.] I have always -believed and held that the
prosperity of our country, that the supremacy of its institutions
186 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
and its social order all depended upon our pursuing such a policy
in our legislation that we should have in America a class of work-
ingmen earning adequate wages that would bring comfort into
their homes and maintain hope in their hearts. [Cheers. ] A de-
spairing man, a man out of whose horizon the star of hope has
gone, is not a safe citizen in a republic. [Cheers. ] Therefore I
would preserve against unfriendly competition the highest possible
scale of wages to our working people. [Great cheering. ]
I know the stout hearts, I know the intelligence, I know the en-
terprise of those men who man our railway trains and push them
at lightning speed through darkness and storm. I know the skill
and faithfulness of those who sit at the telegraph instrument,
holding in their watchfulness the safety of those who journey. I
know the fidelity of the men who conduct this business, which has
grown to be a system as fine and perfect as the finest product of
mechanical art. [Cheers.] And so I value to-night this evidence
of your cordial respect ; and let me say that whatever may happen
to me in the future, whether I shall remain a citizen of Indianap-
olis to bear with you the duties and responsibilities of private citi-
zenship, or shall be honored writh office, I shall never forget this
great demonstration of your friendliness. [Prolonged cheers. ]
General Harrison's unequalled campaign of speech-mak-
ing closed on the afternoon of this day with a visit from
80 young lady students of Oxford, Ohio, College. They
were organized as the " Carrie Harrison Club of Oxford, "
and their visit was in honor of that distinguished lady,
who, 36 years before, as Miss Carrie Scott, graduated from
this same institution, of which her venerable father, the
Rev. Dr. John W. Scott, was the first President. The
students were accompanied by President and Mrs. Faye
Walker and Professors Wilson, Fisher, and Dean.
Miss Nellie F. Deem, of Union City, Indiana, the young-
est teacher in the college, addressed Mrs. Harrison on be-
half of the school. General Harrison responded briefly in
a happy little speech, in which he expressed the pleasure
felt by both over the visit of the Oxford young ladies. He
spoke of their mutual memories of the school and the happy
days spent in its charming surroundings, and said they
both rejoiced in the prosperity of the college, noted as it
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 187
was for its scholarship and the Christian training of its
pupils. In conclusion he thanked them for their visit, and
assured them that the kind words spoken of Mrs. Harrison
and himself were fully appreciated and would be long re-
membered.
INDIANAPOLIS, NOVEMBER 5.
THE last day of the great campaign brought a delegation
of nearly 100 ladies and gentlemen from Terre Haute,
Indiana,, who came to deliver a handsome present of a
miniature silver-mounted plush chair, designated the
"Presidential Chair." They also brought Mrs. Harrison
a valuable flower-stand, voted to her at Germania Fair as
the most popular lady. In returning thanks for these
gifts and their visit General Harrison said :
Captain Ebel and Gentlemen — I am very much obliged to you for
this friendly visit. It comes in the nature of a surprise, for it was
only a little while ago that I was advised of your intention. I
thank you for this gift. It is intended, I suppose, as a type, and a
type of a very useful article, one that does not come amiss in any
station of life. Only those who for months found their only con-
venient seat upon a log or a cracker-box know what infinite luxury
there was in even a common Windsor chair. We are glad to wel-
come you to our home, and will be glad to greet personally the
members of this club and those ladies who accompany you.
The General then, in behalf of Mrs. Harrison, thanked
the ladies for their present to her,
188 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
THE ELECTION, NOVEMBER, 1888.
IT is not the purpose of this work to more than chronicle
the result of the great presidential campaign of 1888. The
election fell on November 6. Twenty States gave the Re-
publican candidate 233 votes in the Electoral College, and
18 States cast 168 votes for Mr. Cleveland, the Democratic
candidate. The total vote cast in the 38 States, for the 7
electoral tickets, was 11,386,632, of which General Har-
rison received 5,440,551. The Republican electoral ticket
was chosen in Indiana by a plurality of 2,392 votes.
When it became evident that General Harrison had won
the election a demonstration without parallel was inaugu-
rated at Indianapolis and continued three days. The excit-
ing street parades and gatherings witnessed at the time of
his nomination were re-enacted with tenfold energy and
enthusiasm. Delegations came from all points in the State
to offer their congratulations, and 10,000 telegrams and
letters from distinguished countrymen poured in upon the
successful candidate. From an early hour on the morning
of the 7th, for days thereafter, the streets of Indianap-
olis were thronged with enthusiastic visitors.
The first delegation to call upon General Harrison after
his election came from Hendricks County, numbering 400
veterans and others, headed by Ira J. Chase, the newly
elected Lieutenant-Governor, Rev. J. H. Hull, and John C.
Ochiltree. General Harrison made no formal response to
their congratulatory address. On November 9 a delega-
tion from the Commercial Club of Cincinnati arrived, and
at night the saw-makers of Indianapolis — about 100 in
number — bedecked in red from head to foot, marched with
glaring torches to the residence of General Harrison, and
after a serenade called upon him for a speech.
Coming out on the steps the General said :
The time for speech-making is over. The debate is closed, and I
believe the polls are closed. ["Right you are !"] I will only thank
HARRISONS SPEECHES. 189
you for your call to-night and for that friendly spirit which you
have shown to me during the campaign.
A Famous Telegram.
The State of New York gave Harrison (Rep. ) over
Cleveland (Dem.) a plurality of 13,074 votes; but for Gov-
ernor— at the same election — the State gave David B. Hill
(Dem.) a plurality of 19,171 over Warner Miller (Rep.).
These opposite results called forth the following famous
telegram from the President-elect :
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., Nov. 9, 1888.
To HON. WARNER MILLER, Herkimer, N. Y. :
I am greatly grieved at your defeat. If the intrepid leader fell
outside the breastworks, the column, inspired by his courage, went
on to victory. BENJAMIN HARRISON.
INDIANAPOLIS, JUNUARY 1, 1889.
THE installation of officers by George H. Thomas Post,
G. A. R., on the night of New Year's Day, '89, was at-
tended by General Harrison, who for many years had been
an active member of this post. Many comrades from other
posts in the city were present. The President-elect was
escorted by Col. Irvin Robbins, who was commander of the
Democratic regiment during the recent campaign, and Col.
George W. Spahr, who commanded a Republican regi-
ment He was received with full honors by the retiring
commander, James B. Black, who presented him to the
post.
In response to their enthusiastic greeting, General Har-
rison— speaking in public for the first time since his elec-
tion— in substance said :
Commander and Comrades— It affords me pleasure to meet with
you again on this occasion. When I left the army so many years
ago I little expected to enter it again, as I soon will. Among the
many honors which may be placed on me in the future there will
be none, I can assure you, that I will esteem more highly than my
membership in this order, instituted by those who sustained the
190 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
flag of Washington, the flag of Perry, the flag that was baptized in
the blood of the Revolution and again in the second conflict with
the mother country ; that floated over the halls of the Montezumas,
and was sustained in other wars, and which you made possible to
wave over every foot of our beloved country. I esteem it my great-
est honor that I bore even an humble part with you and all the
comrades of the Grand Army in bringing about this most desirable
result. I wish to say before parting with you, if I may never look
upon your faces collectively again, that the parting request I would
make of you would be that each of you, without regard to party
(and I believe I can say this without offence to any comrade of the
Grand Army) , stand shoulder to shoulder, as we did during the
war, to preserve a free and honest ballot. There is nothing, I can
assure you, that will do more to preserve and maintain our insti-
tutions than this. Our country, separated as it is by the great
watery waste, need have no fear of interference by foreign coun-
tries with its institutions ; nor do we desire in any way to inter-
fere with them. Nor, indeed, is there any fear of another civil
war. The only fear we should now have is a corruption or sup-
pression of the free ballot, and your utmost exertions should be to
prevent it.
In concluding, he called for the choicest blessings upon
his comrades, saying : " To each one, God bless you and
your families; God keep you and protect you in your
homes !"
INDIANAPOLIS, FEBRUARY 23, 1889.
The Departure for Washington.
PRESIDENT-ELECT and Mrs. Harrison bade their friends
and neighbors good-by and left Indiana on February 25
for Washington. Governor Hovey, Mayor Denny, and
several thousand citizens escorted them from their residence
to the railroad station. In the escort column were 1,000
G. A. R. veterans from Geo. H. Thomas and other posts,
commanded by H. C. Allen. Conspicuous in their ranks
was that distinguished soldier-diplomat, General Lew
Wallace. The members of the Indiana Legislature saluted
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 101
and joined the cortege as it passed through Pennsylvania
Street.
General Harrison's carriage was completely enclosed
within a hollow square composed of 32 prominent citizens —
a body-guard of honor. The entire population of the city
turned out to witness the eventful departure, while numer-
ous delegations were present from Danville, Richmond,
Crawfordsville, Terre Haute, and other cities. A great
throng greeted the distinguished travellers at the Union
Station. From the rear platform of the special inaugural
train Governor Hovey presented the President-elect amid
tumultuous cheering.
General Harrison was greatly affected by the scene and
the occasion. Speaking with emotion he said :
My Good Friends and Neighbors— I cannot trust myself to put in
words what I feel at this time. Every kind thought that is in
your minds and every good wish that is in your hearts for me finds
its responsive wish and thought in my mind and heart for each
of you. I love this city. It has been my own cherished home.
Twice before I have left it to discharge public duties and returned
to it with gladness, as I hope to do again. It is a city on whose
streets the pompous displays of wealth are not seen. It is full of
pleasant homes, and in these homes there is an unusual store of
contentment. The memory of your favor and kindness will abide
with me, and my strong desire to hold your respect and confidence
will strengthen me in the discharge of my new and responsible
duties. Let me say farewell to all my Indiana friends. For the
public honors that have come to me I am their grateful debtor.
They have made the debt so large that I can never discharge it.
There is a great sense of loneliness in the discharge of high public
duties. The moment of decision is one of isolation. But there is
One whose help comes even into the quiet chamber of judgment,
and to His wise and unfailing guidance will I look for direction
and safety. My family unite with me in grateful thanks for this
cordial good- by, and with me wish that these years of separation
may be full of peace and happiness for each of you. [Great
cheering. ]
192 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
KNIGHTSTOWN, INDIANA, FEBRUARY 25.
As the inaugural train sped along it was greeted at
every station by thousands of cheering spectators. The
first stop was at Knightstown, where the Soldiers' Orphans'
Home is located. In response to their calls General Har-
rison said:
My Friends — I thank you for this cordial gathering and demon-
stration. I can detain the train but a moment, and I only stopped
at the request of the Superintendent of the Soldiers' Orphans' Home,
so that the children might have an opportunity to see me and that
I might wish them the bright and prosperous future which the sac-
rifices of their fathers won for them. I bid you farewell.
RICHMOND, INDIANA, FEBRUARY 25.
THE city of Richmond was reached at 5 o'clock in the
afternoon, where several thousand people greeted the trav-
ellers. General Harrison said :
My Friends — I have so long had my home among you that I can-
not but feel a sense of regret in leaving the soil of Indiana. I go
•with a deep sense of inadequacy, but I am sure you will be patient
with my mistakes, and that you will all give me your help as citi-
zens [cheers and cries of "We will !"] in my efforts to promote the
best interests of our people and the honor of the Nation we love.
I thank you for this cordial greeting. [Cheers.]
COLUMBUS, OHIO, FEBRUARY 25.
AT Piqua the President-elect and his party were wel-
comed by Ohio's chief executive, Gov. J. B. Foraker, and
his wife; and, notwithstanding the hour, some 20, 000 peo-
ple greeted their arrival at Columbus. The roar of cannon
rendered speaking difficult. Governor Foraker presented
General Harrison, who here made his last public speech
before being inaugurated as President. He said :
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 193
]\ly Fellow -citizens — I thank you for the wonderful demonstration
of this evening. In these evidences of the good will of my friends
I receive a new stimulus as I enter upon the duties of the great
office to which I have been chosen. I beg to thank you again for
your interest. [Great cheering.]
WASHINGTON, D.C., MARCH 4, 1889.
GENERAL HARRISON and his family, accompanied by
Hon. James N. Huston, Hon. W. H. H. Miller, Mr. E. W.
Halford, Mr. E. F. Tibbott and family, Miss Sartger, and
the representatives of the press, arrived in Washington
on the evening of February 26. The President-elect was
met by Col. A. T. Britton, Geo. B. Williams, Gen. H. V.
Boynton, J. K. McCammon, Gen. Daniel Macauley, and
other members of the Inaugural Committee, and escorted
to the Arlington Hotel.
The inaugural celebration was conducted by several
hundred residents of Washington, acting through com-
mittees. The Executive Committee, having supervising
charge of all matters pertaining to the celebration, com-
prised the following prominent Washingtonians : Alex.
T. Britton, Chairman ; Myron M. Parker, Vice-Chairman ;
Brainerd H. Warner, Treasurer; Henry L. Swords, Secre-
tary; Elmon A. Adams, Joseph K. McCammon, James E.
Bell, James G. Berret, Robert Boyd, Henry V. Boynton,
Almon M. Clapp, A. H. S. Davis, Frederick Douglass,
John Joy Edson, Lawrence Gardner, George Gibson,
Charles C. Glover, Stilson Hutchins, E. Kurtz Johnson,
George E. Lemon, John McElroy, Geo. A. Mcllhenny,
Crosby S. Noyes, Albert Ordway, Charles B. Purvis,
MelancthonL. Ruth, Thomas Somerville, Orren G. Staples,
John W. Thompson, Henry A. Willard, George B. Will-
iams, Louis D. Wine, Simon Wolf, Levi P. Wright, and
Hallett Kilbourn. General James Beaver, Governor of
Pennsylvania, was Chief Marshal of the day, and with a
13
194 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
brilliant staff led the great column in its march to and from
the Capitol. The veterans of the Seventieth Indiana Regi-
ment were accorded the post of honor on the route to the
Capitol, and on conclusion of the ceremonies escorted their
old commander to the White House. Chief- Justice Fuller
administered the oath of office.
President Harrison delivered his inaugural address from
the terrace of the Capitol in the presence of a vast con-
course and during a rainfall.
THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
There is no constitutional or legal requirement that the President
shall take the oath of office in the presence of the people. But
there is so manifest an appropriateness in the public induction to
office of the chief executive officer of the Nation that from the be-
ginning of the Government the people, to whose service the official
oath consecrates the officer, have been called to witness the solemn
ceremonial. The oath taken in the presence of the people becomes
a mutual covenant ; the officer covenants to serve the whole body
of the people by a faithful execution of the laws, so that they may
be the unfailing defence and security of those who respect and ob-
serve them, and that neither wealth and station nor the power of
combinations shall be able to evade their just penalties or to wrest
them from a beneficent public purpose to serve the ends of cruelty
or selfishness. My promise is spoken ; yours unspoken, but not the
less real and solemn. The people of every State have here their
representatives. Surely I do not misinterpret the spirit of the oc-
casion when I assume that the whole body of the people covenant
with me and with each other to-day to support and defend the Con-
stitution and the Union of the States, to yield willing obedience
to all the laws and each to every other citizen his equal civil and
political rights. Entering thus solemnly in covenant with each
other, we may reverently invoke and confidently expect the favor
and help of Almighty God, that He will give to me wisdom,
strength, and fidelity, and to our people a spirit of fraternity and
a love of righteousness and peace.
This occasion derives peculiar interest from the fact that the
presidential term which begins this clay is the twenty-sixth under
our Constitution. The first inauguration of President Washington
took place in New York, where Congress was then sitting, on April
30, 1789, having been deferred by reason of delays attending the
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 195
organization of the Congress and the canvass of the electoral vote.
Our people have already worthily observed the centennials of the
Declaration of Independence, of the battle of Yorktown, and of the
adoption of the Constitution, and will shortly celebrate in New
York the institution of the second great department of our consti-
tutional scheme of government. When the centennial of the insti-
tution of the judicial department by the organization of the Su-
preme Court shall have been suitably observed, as I trust it will
be, our Nation will have fully entered its second century.
I will not attempt to note the marvellous and, in great part,
happy contrasts between our country as it steps over the threshold
into its second century of organized existence under the Constitu-
tion, and that weak but wisely ordered young Nation that looked
undauntedly down the first century, when all its years stretched
out before it.
Our people will not fail at this time to recall the incidents which
accompanied the institution of government under the Constitution,
or to find inspiration and guidance in the teachings and example
of Washington and his great associates, and hope and courage in
the contrast which thirty-eight populous and prosperous States
offer to the thirteen States, weak in everything except courage and
the love of liberty, that then fringed our Atlantic seaboard.
The Territory of Dakota has now a population greater than any
of the original States— except Virginia— and greater than the ag-
gregate of five of the smaller States in 1790. The centre of popu-
lation when our national capital was located was east of Balti-
more, and it was argued by many well-informed persons that it
would move eastward rather than westward. Yet in 1880 it was
found to be near Cincinnati, and the new census, about to be taken,
will show another stride to the westward. That which was the
body has come to be only the rich fringe of the nation's robe. But
our growth has not been limited to territory, population, and ag-
gregate wealth, marvellous as it has been in each of those direc-
tions. The masses of our people are better fed, clothed, and housed
than their fathers were. The facilities for popular education have
been vastly enlarged and more generally diffused. The virtues of
courage and patriotism have given recent proof of their continued
presence and increasing power in the hearts and over the lives of
our people. The influences of religion have been multiplied and
strengthened. The sweet offices of charity have greatly increased.
The virtue of temperance is held in higher estimation. We have
not attained an ideal condition. Not all of our people are happy
and prosperous ; not all of them are virtuous and law-abiding.
190 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
But, on the whole, the opportunities offered to the individual to
secure the comforts of life are better than are found elsewhere, and
largely better than they were here 100 years ago.
The surrender of a large measure of sovereignty to the general
Government, effected by the adoption of the Constitution, was not
accomplished until the suggestions of reason were strongly re-en-
forced by the more imperative voice of experience. The divergent
interests of peace speedily demanded a "more perfect union." The
merchant, the ship-master, and the manufacturer discovered and
disclosed to our statesmen and to the people that commercial eman-
cipation must be added to the political freedom which had been so
bravely won. The commercial policy of the mother country had
not relaxed any of its hard and oppressive features To hold in
check the development of our commercial marine, to prevent or
retard the establishment and growth of manufactures in the States,
and so to secure the American market for their shops and the car-
rying trade for their ships, w^as the policy of European statesmen,
and was pursued with the most selfish vigor. Petitions poured in
upon Congress urging the imposition of discriminating duties that
should encourage the production of needed things at home. The
patriotism of the people, which no longer found a field of exercise
in war, was energetically directed to the duty of equipping the
young republic for the defence of its independence by making its
people self-dependent. Societies for the promotion of home manu-
factures and for encouraging the use of domestics in the dress of
the people were organized in many of the States. The revival at
the end of the century of the same patriotic interest in the preser
vation and development of domestic industries and the defence of
our working people against injurious foreign competition is an
incident worthy of attention.
It is not a departure, but a return, that wre have witnessed. The
protective policy had then its opponents. The argument was made,
as now, that its benefits inured to particular classes or sections.
If the question became in any sense, or at any time, sectional, it
was only because slavery existed in some of the States. But for
this there was 110 reason why the cotton-producing States should
not have led or walked abreast with the New England States in the
production of cotton fabrics. There was this reason only why the
States that divide with Pennsylvania the mineral treasures of the
great southeastern and central mountain ranges should have been
so tardy in bringing to the smelting furnace and the mill the coal
and iron from their near opposing hillsides. Mill-fires were lighted
at the funeral pile of slavery. The emancipation proclamation was
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 107
heard in the depths of the earth as well as in the sky— men were
made free and material tilings became our better servants.
The sectional element has happily been eliminated from the tariff
discussion. We have no longer States that are necessarily only
planting States. None are excluded from achieving that diversifi-
cation of pursuit among the people which brings wealth and con-
tentment. The cotton plantation will not be less valuable when
the product is spun in the country town by operatives whose neces-
sities call for diversified crops and create a home demand for
garden and agricultural products. Every new mine, furnace, and
factory is an extension of the productive capacity of the State
more real and valuable than added territory.
Shall the prejudices and paralysis of slavery continue to hang
upon the skirts of progress? How long will those who rejoice that
slavery no longer exists cherish or tolerate the incapacities it puts
upon their communities? I look hopefully to the continuance of
our protective system and to the consequent development of manu-
facturing and mining enterprises in the States hitherto wholly
given to agriculture as a potent influence in the perfect unification
of our people. The men who have invested their capital in these
enterprises, the farmers who have felt the benefit of their neighbor-
hood, and the men who work in shop or field will not fail to find
and to defend a community of interest. Is it not quite possible
that the farmers and the promoters of the great mining and manu-
facturing enterprises which have recently been established in the
South may yet find that the free ballot of the workingman, with-
out distinction of race, is needed for their defence as well as for
his own? I no not doubt that if these men^ in the South who now
accept the tariff views of Clay and the constitutional expositions
of Webster would courageously avow and defend their real convic-
tions they would not find it difficult, by friendly instruction and
co-operation, to make the black man their efficient and safe ally,
not only in establishing correct principles in our national Admin-
istration, but in preserving for their local communities the benefits
of social order and economical and honest government. At least
until the good offices of kindness and education have been fairly
tried the contrary conclusion cannot be plausibly urged.
I have altogether rejected the suggestion of a special executive
policy for any section of our country. It is the duty of the Execu-
tive to administer and enforce in the methods and by the instru-
mentalities pointed out and provided by the Constitution all the
laws enacted by Congress. These laws are general, and their ad-
ministration should be uniform and equal. As a citizen may not
198 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
elect what laws he will obey, neither may the Executive elect
which he will enforce. The duty to obey and execute embraces the
Constitution in its entirety and the whole code of laws enacted
under it. The evil example of permitting individuals, corporations,
or communities to nullify the laws because they cross some selfish
or local interests or prejudices is full of danger, not only to the
Nation at large, but much more to those who use this pernicious
expedient to escape their just obligations or to obtain an unjust ad-
vantage over others. They will presently themselves be compelled
to appeal to the law for protection, and those who would use the
law as a defence must not deny that use of it to others.
If our great corporations would more scrupulously observe their
legal obligations and duties they would have less cause to complain
of the unlawful limitations of their rights or of violent interference
with their operations. The community that by concert, open or
secret, among its citizens denies to a portion of its members their
plain rights under the law has severed the only safe bond of social
order and prosperity. The evil works, from a bad centre, both
wrays. It demoralizes those wrho practise it, and destroys the faith
of those who suffer by it in the efficiency of the law as a safe pro-
tector. The man in whose breast that faith has been darkened is
naturally the subject of dangerous and uncanny suggestions. Those
who use unlawful methods, if moved by no higher motive than the
selfishness that prompts them, may well stop and inquire what is
to be the end of this. An unlawful expedient cannot become a
permanent condition of government. If the educated and influen-
tial classes in a community either practise or connive at the sys-
tematic violation of laws that seem to them to cross their conven-
ience, what can they expect when the lesson that convenience or a
supposed class interest is a sufficient cause for lawlessness has been
well learned by the ignorant classes? A community where law is
the rule of conduct, and where courts, not mobs, execute its pen-
alties, is the only attractive field for business investments and
honest labor.
Our naturalization laws should be so amended as to make the in-
quiry into the character and good disposition of persons applying
for citizenship more careful and searching Our existing laws
have been in their administration an unimpressive and often an
imintelligible form. We accept the man as a citizen without any
knowledge of his fitness, and he assumes the duties of citizenship
without any knowledge as to what they are. The privileges of
American citizenship are so great and its duties so grave that we
may well insist upon a good knowledge of every person applying for
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 199
citizenship and a good knowledge by him of our institutions. We
should not cease to be hospitable to immigration, but we should
cease to be careless as to the character of it. There are men of all
races, even the best, whose coining is necessarily a burden upon
our public revenues or a threat to social order. These should be
identified and excluded.
We have happily maintained a policy of avoiding all interfer-
ence with European affairs. We have been only interested specta-
tors of their contentions in diplomacy and in war, ready to use our
friendly offices to promote peace, but never obtruding our advice
and never attempting unfairly to coin the distresses of other powers
into commercial advantage to ourselves. We have a just right to
expect that our European policy will be the American policy of
European courts.
It is so manifestly incompatible with those precautions for our
peace and safety, which all the great powers habitually observe and
enforce in matters affecting them, that a shorter water-way be-
tween our eastern and western seaboards should be dominated by
any European Government, that we may confidently expect that
such a purpose will not be entertained by any friendly power. We
shall in the future, as in the past, use every endeavor to maintain
and enlarge our friendly relations with all the great powers, but
they will not expect us to look kindly upon any project that would
leave us subject to the dangers of a hostile observation or environ-
ment.
We have not sought to dominate or to absorb any of our weaker
neighbors, but rather to aid and encourage them to establish free
and stable governments, resting upon the consent of their own peo-
ple. We have a clear right to expect, therefore, that no European
Government will seek to establish colonial dependencies upon the
territory of these independent American States. That which a
sense of justice restrains us from seeking they may be reasonably
expected willingly to forego.
It must not be assumed, however, that our interests are so exclu-
sively American that our entire inattention to any events that may
transpire elsewhere can be taken for granted. Our citizens domi-
ciled for purposes of trade in all countries and in many of the
islands of the sea demand and will have our adequate care in their
personal and commercial rights. The necessities of our navy re-
quire convenient coaling stations and dock and harbor privileges.
These and other trading privileges we will feel free to obtain only
by means that do not in any degree partake of coercion, however
feeble the Government from which we ask such concessions. But
200 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
having fairly obtained them by methods and for purposes entirely
consistent with the most friendly disposition toward all other pow-
ers, our consent will be necessary to any modification or impair-
ment of the concession.
We shall neither fail to respect the flag of any friendly nation or
the just rights of its citizens, nor to exact the like treatment for
our own. Calmness, justice, and consideration should characterize
our diplomacy. The offices of an intelligent diplomacy or of
friendly arbitration, in proper cases, should be adequate to the
peaceful adjustment of all international difficulties. By such
methods we will make our contribution to the world's peace, which
no nation values more highly, and avoid the opprobrium which
must fall upon the nation that ruthlessly breaks it.
The duty devolved by law upon the President to nominate and,
by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to appoint all
public officers wrhose appointment is not otherwise provided for in
the Constitution or by act of Congress has become Very' burdensome,
and its wise and efficient discharge full of difficulty. The civil
list is so large that a personal knowledge of any large number of
the applicants is impossible. The President must rely upon the
representations of others, and these are often made inconsiderately
and without any just sense of responsibility.
I have a right, I think, to insist that those who volunteer or are
invited to give advice as to appointments shall exercise considera-
tion and fidelity. A high sense of duty and an ambition to im-
prove the service should characterize all public officers. There are
many ways in which the convenience and comfort of those who
have business with our public officers may be promoted by a
thoughtful and obliging officer, and I shall expect those whom I
may appoint to justify their selection by a conspicuous efficiency
in the discharge of their duties. Honorable party service will cer-
tainly not be esteemed by me a disqualification for public office ;
but it will in no case be allowed to serve as a shield for official
negligence, incompetency, or delinquency. It is entirely credit-
able to seek public office by proper methods and with proper mo-
tives, and all applications will be treated with consideration ; but
I shall need, and the heads of departments will need, time for in-
quiry and deliberation. Persistent importunity will not, therefore,
be the best support of an application for office.
Heads of departments, bureaus, and all other public officers hav-
ing any duty connected therewith, will be expected to enforce the
Civil Service law fully and without evasion. Beyond this obvious
duty I hope to do something more to advance the reform of the
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 201
civil service. The ideal, or even my own ideal, I shall probably
not attain. Retrospect will be a safer basis of judgment than prom-
ises. We shall not, however, I am sure, be able to put our civil
service upon a non-partisan basis until we have secured an incum-
bency that fair minded men of the opposition will approve for im-
partiality and integrity. As the number of such in the civil list
is increased removals from office will diminish.
While a treasury surplus is not the greatest evil, it is a serious
evil. Our revenue should be ample to meet the ordinary annual
demands upon our treasury, with a sufficient margin for those ex-
traordinary but scarcely less imperative demands which arise now
and then. Expenditure should always be made with economy, and
only upon public necessity. Wastefulness, profligacy, or favorit-
ism in public expenditures is criminal , but there is nothing in the
condition of our country or of our people to suggest that anything
presently necessary to the public prosperity, security, or honor
should be unduly postponed. It will be the duty of Congress wisely
to forecast and estimate these extraordinary demands, and, having
added them to our ordinary expenditures, to so adjust our revenue
laws that no considerable annual surplus will remain. We will
fortunately be able to apply to the redemption of the public debt
any small and unforeseen excess of revenue. This is better than to
reduce our income below our necessary expenditures with the re-
sulting choice between another change of our revenue laws and an
increase of the public debt. It is quite possible, I am sure, to
effect the necessary reduction in our revenues without breaking
down our protective tariff or seriously injuring any domestic in-
dustry.
The construction of a sufficient number of modern war ships and
of their necessary armament should progress as rapidly as is con-
sistent with care and perfection in plans and workmanship. The
spirit, courage, and skill of our naval officers and seamen have
many times in our history given to weak ships and inefficient guns
a rating greatly beyond that of the naval list. That they will again
do so upon occasion I do not doubt ; but they ought not, by pre-
meditation or neglect, to be left to the risks and exigencies of an
unequal combat.
We should encourage the establishment of American steamship
lines. The exchanges of commerce demand stated, reliable, and
rapid means of communication, and until these* are provided the
development of our trade with the States lying south of us is im-
possible.
Our pension law should give more adequate and discriminating
202 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
relief to the Union soldiers and sailors and to their widows and
orphans Such occasions as this should remind us that we owe
everything to their valor and sacrifice.
It is a subject of congratulation that there is a near prospect of
the admission into the Union of the Dakotas and Montana and
Washington Territories. This act of justice has been unreasonably
delayed in the case of some of them. The people who have settled
those Territories are intelligent, enterprising, and patriotic, and
the accession of these new States will add strength to the Nation.
It is due to the settlers in the Territories who have availed them-
selves of the invitations of our land laws to make homes upon the
public domain that their titles should be speedily adjusted and
their honest entries confirmed by patent.
It is very gratifying to observe the general interest now being
manifested in the reform of our election laws. Those who have
been for years calling attention to the pressing necessity of throw-
ing about the ballot-box and about the elector further safeguards,
in order that our elections might not only be free and pure, but
might clearly appear to be so, will welcome the accession of any
who did not so soon discover the need of reform. The national
Congress has not as yet taken control of elections in that case over
which the Constitution gives it jurisdiction, but has accepted and
adopted the election laws of the several States, provided penalties
for their violation and a method of supervision. Only the ineffi-
ciency of the State laws or an unfair partisan administration of
them could suggest a departure from this policy. It was clearly,
however, in the contemplation of the framers of the Constitution
that such an exigency might arise, and provision was wisely made
for it. No power vested in Congress or in the Executive to secure
or perpetuate it should remain unused upon occasion.
The people of all the Congressional districts have an equal inter-
est that the election in each shall truly express the views and wishes
of a majority of the qualified electors residing within it. The re-
sults of such elections are not local, and the insistence of electors
residing in other districts that they shall be pure and free does not
savor at all of impertinence. Tf in any of the States the public
security is thought to be threatened by ignorance among the elec-
tors, the obvious remedy is education. The sympathy and help of
our people will not be withheld from any community struggling
with special embarrassments or difficulties connected with the suf-
frage, if the remedies proposed proceed upon lawful lines and are
promoted by just and honorable methods. How shall those who
practise election frauds recover that respect for the sanctity of the
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 203
ballot which is the first condition and obligation of good citizen-
ship? The man who has come to regard the ballot-box as a jug-
gler's hat has renounced his allegiance.
Let us exalt patriotism and moderate our party contentions. Let
those who would die for the flag on the field of battle give a better
proof of their patriotism and a higher glory to their country by
promoting fraternity and justice. A party success that is achieved
by unfair methods or by practices that partake of revolution is
hurtful and evanescent, even from a party standpoint. We should
hold our differing opinions in mutual respect, and, having submit-
ted them to the arbitrament of the ballot, should accept an adverse
judgment with the same respect that we would have demanded of
our opponents if the decision had been in our favor.
No other people have a government more worthy of their respect
and love, or a land so magnificent in extent, so pleasant to look
upon, and so full of generous suggestion to enterprise and labor.
God has placed upon our head a diadem, and has laid at our feet
power and wealth beyond definition or calculation. But we must
not forget that we take these gifts upon the condition that justice
and mercy shall hold the reins of power, and that the upward ave-
nues of hope shall be free to all the people.
I do not mistrust the future. Dangers have been in frequent am-
bush along our path, but we have uncovered and vanquished them
all. Passion has swept some of our communities, but only to give
us a new demonstration that the great body of our people are stable,
patriotic, and law-abiding. No political party can long pursue ad-
vantage at the expense of public honor or by rude and indecent
methods, without protest and fatal disaffection in its own body.
The peaceful agencies of commerce are more fully revealing the
necessary unity of all our communities, and the increasing inter-
course of our people is promoting mutual respect. We shall find
unalloyed pleasure in the revelation which our next census will
make of the swift development of the great resources of some of the
States. Each State will bring its generous contribution to the great
aggregate of the Nation's increase. And when the harvest from
the fields, the cattle from the hills, and the ores of the earth shall
have been weighed, counted, and valued, we will turn from them
all to crown with the highest honor the State that has most pro-
moted education, virtue, justice, and patriotism among the people.
204 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
NEW YOEK CITY, APRIL 30, 1889.
The Nation's Centenary.
THE celebration, at the city of New York, of the one
hundredth anniversary of the inauguration of George
Washington as first President of the United States was
more than national in its scope and influence. The people
of the entire continent manifested a gratifying interest in
it, and no event in our history has been commemorated
with greater success. The occasion called together more
than two million people within the gateways of the great
metropolis, many of them our most distinguished and rep-
resentative citizens. The celebration was conducted under
the auspices of one hundred prominent citizens, organ-
ized as a general committee, of which the Hon. Hamilton
Fish was President; Mayor Hugh J. Grant, Chairman;
Hon. Elbridge T. Gerry, Chairman Executive Committee ;
and Clarence W. Bowen, Secretary.
Early on the morning of April 29 the President, accom-
panied by Mrs. Harrison, Mrs. J. R. McKee, Mr. and Mrs.
Russell B. Harrison, the members of the Cabinet, Chief
Justice and Mrs. Fuller, Justice and Mrs. Field, Justice
Blatchford, Justice Strong, Major-General Schofield* Mr.
Walker Blame and Miss Blaine, Col. Thos. F. Barr, Lieut.
T. B. M. Mason and Mrs. Mason, left Washington by special
train tendered by President Geo. R. Roberts and Vice-
President Frank Thomson, of the Pennsylvania Company.
The distinguished guests were escorted by the following
members of the Centennial Committee designated for this
honorable duty : John A. King, Chairman ; John Jay,
Edward Cooper, Wm. H. Wickham, Wm. R. Grace, Fred-
erick J. DePeyster, Wm. H. Robertson, Cornelius Vander-
bilt, Wm. M. Evarts, Frank Hiscock, Seth Low, Orlando
B. Potter, Clifford S. Sims, Jas. Duane Livingston, and
Frank S. Witherbee.
At Trenton the party was met by the New Jersey Cen-
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 205
tennial Committee, consisting of Governor Green, General
Sewell, Rev. Dr. Hamill, Colonel Stockton, General Grubb,
Colonel Donnelly, Captain Skirm, Senator Cramner, Sen-
ator Cattell, Colonel Chambers, and others.
Arrived at Elizabeth the President breakfasted with
Governor Green and then held a reception, conducted by
Col. Rob't S. Green, assisted by Col. Suydam, Chas. G.
Parkhurst, and John L. Boggs. Following the route taken
by Washington, President Harrison and his party em-
barked at Elizabethport on board the U. S. S. Despatch,
and, escorted by a magnificent fleet of war ships, merchant
marine, and craft of all kinds, proceeded up the Kills to
the bay amid the roar of cannon from the several forts and
the men-of-war.
At the gangway of the Despatch the President was re-
ceived by Jackson S. Schultz and the following gentlemen,
comprising the Committee on Navy: John S. Barnes,
George G. Haven, D. Willis James, Frederick R. Coudert,
Capt. Henry Erben, Ogden Goelet, John Jay Pierrepont,
Loyall Farragut, Alfred C. Cheney, Buchanan Winthrop,
and S. Nicholson Kane. Other distinguished guests on
the Despatch were Gov. David B. Hill, Gen. William T.
Sherman, Admiral David D. Porter, Commodore Ramsey,
and Jas. M. Varnum. Several hundred thousand patriotic
people greeted the Despatch as she proudly entered the
harbor. The scene was a most memorable one.
Following the example of Washington, President Harri-
son was rowed ashore in a barge, landing at Pier 1C, where
he was met by the venerable Hamilton Fish, who welcomed
him to New York. Proceeding to the Equitable Building,
the President was tendered a reception in the rooms of the
Lawyers' Club, followed by a banquet under the auspices
of the Committee on States, consisting of the following dis-
tinguished citizens: William G. Hamilton, Chairman;
James C. Carter, John Schuyler, J.T. Van Rensselaer, James
W. Husted, Theo. Roosevelt, Jacob A. Cantor, E. Ellery
206 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
Anderson, Floyd Clarkson, Henry W. LeRoy, John B.
Pine, Samuel Borrowe, and Jas. M. Montgomery. Among
the guests — other than the members of the Cabinet and the
other prominent gentlemen who accompanied the President
on the Despatch — were ex-President R. B. Hayes and the
Governors of thirty -five States.
At night the President and his Cabinet attended the
grand centennial ball at the Metropolitan Opera House, at
which 6,000 guests were present. This brilliant entertain-
ment, rendered memorable by the presence of so many dis-
tinguished people, was given under the auspices of a
committee composed of the following society leaders:
Stuyvesant Fish, Chairman; William Waldorf Astor,
William K. Yanderbilt, William Jay, Egerton L. Win-
throp, Robert Goelet, Wm. B. Beekman, Stephen H. Olin,
Wm. E. D. Stokes, and Gouverneur Morris.
The morning of the 30th — Centennial Day — the
President, members of his Cabinet, with ex- Presidents
Cleveland and Hayes, Governor Hill, and many other
noted guests, attended thanksgiving services at St. Paul's
Church. The President and his family occupied the
Washington pew. The exercises were conducted by the
Rt. Rev. Henry C. Potter, Bishop of New York. The
literary exercises were held on the steps of the sub-Treas-
ury, where General Washington took his oath of office a
hundred years before. Countless thousands surrounded the
speaker's stand and congregated in the vicinity. Elbridge
T. Gerry presided and introduced Rev. Richard S. Storrs,
who delivered the invocation. Secretary Bowen read a
poem entitled " The Vow of Washington, " composed for
the occasion by the venerable John Greenleaf Whittier.
Hon. Chauncey M. Depew then delivered the Centennial
oration. On conclusion, Chairman Gerry introduced
President Harrison, who was greeted with a grand out-
burst as he advanced to the front. Amid repeated in-
terruptions with cheers he spoke as follows :
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 207
Mr. Chairman, my Countrymen — Official duty of a very exacting
character has made it quite impossible that I should deliver an ad-
dress on this occasion. Foreseeing this, I early notified your com-
mittee that the programme must not contain any address by me. The
selection of Mr. Depew as the orator of this occasion makes further
speech not only difficult, but superfluous. He has met the demand
of this great occasion on its own high level. He has brought be-
fore us the incidents and the lessons of the first inauguration of
Washington. We seem to have been a part of that admiring and
almost adoring throng that filled these streets one hundred years ago.
We have come into the serious, but always inspiring, presence
of Washington. He was the incarnation of duty, and he teaches
us to-day this great lesson . That those who would associate their
names with events that shall outlive a century can only do so by
high consecration to duty. Self-seeking has no public observance
or anniversary. The captain who gives to the sea his cargo of goods,
that he may give safety and deliverance to his imperilled fellow -
men, has fame; he who lands the cargo has only wages. Washing-
ton seemed to come to the discharge of the duties of his high office
impressed with a great sense" of his unfamiliarity with these new
calls thrust upon him, modestly doubtful of his own ability, but
trusting implicitly in the sustaining helpfulness and grace of that
God who rules the world, presides in the councils of nations, and
is able to supply every human defect. We have made marvellous
progress in material things since then, but the stately and enduring
shaft that we have erected at the national capital at Washington
symbolizes the fact that he is still the First American Citizen.
[Cheers. ]
The Great Military Parade and Banquet.
On conclusion of the ceremonies at the sub-Treasury the
President and other honored guests of the day reviewed
the grand military parade from a stand in Madison Square.
Along the line of march, especially on Broadway and
Fifth Avenue, for several miles the gorgeous pageant
moved between two living walls. Never were so many
people congregated on this continent. The glittering
column, commanded by General Schofield, moved with
continuous precision, and was five hours and twenty-five
minutes in passing the reviewing stand. The President
208 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
remained at his post, saluting the last company. The
troops of the various States were led by their Governors.
This monster military demonstration and the great in-
dustrial parade of the day following were conducted under
the management of a committee comprising the following
well-known gentlemen : S. Van Rensselaer Cruger, Chair-
man; John Cochrane, Locke W. Winchester, J. Hampden
Robb, Frederick Gallatin, Frederick D. Tappen, and John
C. Tomlinson.
The President's visit concluded with his participation
in the greatest banquet known to modern times, held at
the Metropolitan Opera House. The lavish decorations,
the magnitude and occasion of the entertainment have
rendered it historical. Eight hundred guests were seated
at the tables, while the surrounding boxes and stalls were
overflowing with distinguished ladies eagerly partaking of
the feast of reason. Mayor Grant presided, and intro-
duced Governor Hill, who welcomed the guests. Ex-
President Cleveland responded to the toast " Our People; "
Gov. Fitzhugh Lee, of Virginia, spoke to " The States ; "
Chief -Justice Fuller responded to " The Federal Constitu-
tion;" Hon. John W. Daniel spoke to "The Senate;" ex-
President Hayes to "The Presidency." Among other
prominent guests were Vice-President Morton, General
Sherman, Lieutenant- Governor Jones, of New York, Judge
Charles Andrews, Hon. Hannibal Hamlin, Mayor Chapin,
of Brooklyn, Governor Foraker, of Ohio, Abram S. Hewitt,
Cornelius K Bliss, Fred'k S. Tallmadge, Samuel D. Bab-
cock, Chauncey M. Depew, Erastus Wiman, Charles W.
Dayton, Josiah M. Fisk, William Henry Smith, Thomas
S. Moore, Henry Clews, Austin Corbin, Philip L. Living-
ston, Bray ton Ives, Darius O. Mills, Richard T. Wilson,
William L. Strong, Henry B. Hyde, James M. Brown,
Louis Fitzgerald, Allan Campbell, John Sloane, James D.
Smith, Edward V. Loew, Eugene Kelly, Walter Stanton,
John F. Plummer, J. Edward Simmons, John Jay Kiiox,
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 209
Do Lancey Nicoll, Henry G. Marquand, Gordon L. Ford,
Daniel Huntington, F. Hopkinson Smith, William E.
Dodge, Chas. Parsons, A. W. Drake, Oliver H. Perry,
Frank D. Millet, H. H. Boyesen, Charles Henry Hart,
Rutherford Stuyvesant, John L. Cadwalader, Lispenard
Stewart, Chas. H. Russell, Jr. , and Richard W. Gilder.
After the Chief-Justice's address President Harrison
was introduced and received with a storm of applause.
He spoke to the toast " The United States of America" as
follows :
Mr. President and Fellow -citizens — I should be unjust to myself,
and, what is more serious, I should be unjust to you, if I did not at
this first and last opportunity express to you the deep sense of ob-
ligation and thankfulness which I feel for these many personal and
official courtesies which have been extended to me since I came to
take part in this celebration. The official representatives of the
State of New York and of this great city have attended me with
the most courteous kindness, omitting no attention that could make
my stay among you pleasant and gratifying. From you and at the
hands of those who have thronged the streets of the city to-day I
have received the most cordial expressions of good will. I would
not, however, have you understand that these loud acclaims have
been in any sense appropriated as a personal tribute to myself. I
have realized that there was that in this occasion and all these in-
teresting incidents which have made it so profoundly impressive
to my mind which was above and greater than any living man. I
have realized that the tribute of cordial interest which you have
manifested was rendered to that great office which, by the favor of
a greater people, I now exercise, rather than to me.
The occasion and all of its incidents will be memorable not only
in the history of your own city, but in the history of our country.
New York did not succeed in retaining the seat of national govern-
ment here, although she made liberal provision for the assem-
bling of the first Congress in the expectation that the Congress might
find its permanent home here. But though you lost that which you
coveted, I think the representatives here of all the States will agree
that it was fortunate that the first inauguration of Washington
took place in the State and the city of New York.
For where in our country could the centennial of the event be so
worthily celebrated as here? What seaboard offered so magnificent
a bay on which to display our merchant and naval marine? What
210 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
city offered thoroughfares so magnificent, />r a people so great, so
generous, as New York has poured out to-day to celebrate that
event ?
I have received at the hands of the committee who have been
charged with the details — onerous, exacting, and too often unthank-
ful— of this demonstration evidence of their confidence in my phys-
ical endurance, [Laughter.]
I must also acknowledge still one other obligation. The commit-
tee having in charge the exercises of this event have also given me
another evidence of their confidence, which has been accompanied
•with some embarrassment. As I have noticed the progress of this
banquet, it seemed to me that each of the speakers had been made
acquainted with his theme before he took his seat at the banquet,
and that I alone was left to make acquaintance with my theme
wrhen I sat down to the table. I prefer to substitute for the official
title which is upon the programme the familiar and fireside ex-
pression, "Our Country."
I congratulate you to-day, as one of the instructive and interest-
ing features of this occasion, that these great thoroughfares dedi-
cated to trade have closed their doors and covered up the insignias
of commerce ; that your great exchanges have closed and your cit-
izens given themselves up to the observance of the celebration in
which we are participating.
I believe that patriotism has been intensified in many hearts by
•what we have witnessed to-day. I believe that patriotism has been
placed in a higher and holier fane in many hearts. The bunting
with which you have covered your walls, these patriotic inscrip-
tions, must go down and the wage and trade be resumed again.
Here may I not ask you to carry those inscriptions that now liang
on the walls into your homes, into the schools of your city, into
all of your great institutions where children are gathered, and
teach them that the eye of the young and the old should look upon
that flag as one of the familiar glories of every American? Have
we not learned that no stocks and bonds, nor land, is our country?
It is a spiritual thought that is in our minds — it is the flag and
what it stands for ; it is the fireside and the home ; it is the
thoughts that are in our hearts, born of the inspiration which
comes with the story of the flag, of martyrs to liberty. It is the
graveyard into which a common country has gathered the uncon-
scious deeds of those who died that the thing might live which we
love and call our country, rather than anything that can be touched
or seen.
Let me add a thought due to our country's future. Perhaps
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 211
never have we been so well equipped for war upon land as now,
and we have never seen the time when our people were more smit-
ten with the love of peace. To elevate the morals of our people ;
to hold up the law as that sacred thing which, like the ark of God
of old, may not be touched by irreverent hands, but frowns upon
any attempt to dethrone its supremacy ; to unite our people in all
that makes home comfortable, as well as to give our energies
in the direction of material advancement, this service may we
render. And out of this great demonstration let us draw lessons to
inspire us to consecrate ourselves anew to this love and service of
our country.
INDIANAPOLIS, AUGUST 22, 1889.
Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument.
A MEMORABLE event in the history of Indiana was the
laying of the corner-stone of the Soldiers' and Sailors'
Monument at Indianapolis on August 22, 1889. The
Board of Commissioners for the erection of the monument —
under whose supervision the attendant exercises were con-
ducted— comprised : George J. Langsdale, of Greencastle,
President; Geo. W. Johnston, of Indianapolis, Secretary;
T. W. Bennett, of Richmond; S. B. Voyles, of Salem; and
D. C. McCollum, of La Porte.
President Harrison and his party were honored guests
on the occasion ; he was accompanied by Secretary Jere-
miah M. Rusk, Attorney- General W. H. H. Miller, Private
Secretary E. W. Halford, Capt. William M. Meredith,
Marshal Daniel M. Ransdell, and General Thomas J.
Morgan.
At College Corner, on the Indiana border, the President
was met by Gov. Alvin P. Hovey, Mayor Caleb S. Denny,
Hon. William H. English, William Scott, John P. Fren-
zel, Robert S. McKee, J. A. Wildman, Albert Gall, Dr.
Henry Jameson, and others, comprising an honorary escort
committee. Governor Hovey welcomed the President to
Indiana in a brief, cordial address, to which President
Harrison responded:
212 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
I thank the Governor for this larger welcome extended as Gov-
ernor on the part of the people of the whole State. You have well
said that the people of Indiana have been kind to me, and if,
•when my public career is ended, I can return to you the happy
possessor of your respect and good- will, I shall not leave public
office with regret.
Arriving at Indianapolis on the evening of the 21st,
the President was formally waited upon by the Monu-
ment Commissioners and Board of Trade Reception
Committee. General James R. Carnahan, on behalf of
the Commissioners, and George G. Tanner, President of
the Board of Trade, warmly welcomed him.
To their addresses President Harrison replied :
Gentlemen of the Committees and Friends — I scarcely know how
to convey to you my deep impressions at this cordial welcome back
to Indianapolis. I cannot hope to do it. I have been deeply
touched by this generous and courteous reception. It was not my
expectation when I left Indianapolis a few months ago, under so
serious a sense of my responsibilities, that I would return again so
soon to my home. But this occasion was one which I could not
well be absent from. It is one that should enlist to a degree that
nothing else can do our patriotic interests and State pride. It is
true, as General Carnahan has said, that I took an early interest
in this movement. I felt that until this monument was built,
until its top- stone was laid, and its voice had been heard by the peo-
ple of this State in expressive speech, we had not done that for our
soldier dead which we should, and that we had neglected those
who died for us. I am glad, therefore, to be present and see this
monument started. I reverently rejoice with you on this occasion,
and hail the work which these commissioners have so wisely and
magnificently begun.
Among other distinguished guests participating in the
ceremonies were Mrs. Jennie Meyerhoff, of Evansville,
President of the Woman's Relief Corps, Department of
Indiana; Col. George C. Harvey, of Danville, commanding
the Sons of Veterans, Division of Indiana; Mrs. Zelda
Seguin- Wall ace and Miss Laura McManis, Indianapolis;
Miss Kate Hammond, Greencastle, and Rev. H. J. Talbott.
The march to the monument was one of the most impos-
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 213
ing demonstrations ever witnessed in Indiana. Fifteen
thousand veterans and others formed the great column,
commanded by Chief Marshal Charles A. Zollinger, of Fort
Wayne; Chief of Staff, Major Irvin Bobbins ; Adjutant-
General, Major Wilbur F. Hitt, assisted by a brilliant
staff of 60 prominent citizens. In addition to these offi-
cers of the day was a mounted honorary staff, representing
the thirteen Congressional districts. They were : First
District, Gil R. Stormont, Princeton ; Second, Col. Elijah
Cavens, Bloomfield ; Third, Capt. James B. Patton, Jef-
fersonville; Fourth, Marine D. Tackett, Greensburg;
Fifth, Maj. J. G. Dunbar, Greencastle; Sixth, Maj. J. F.
Wildman, Muncie; Seventh, Capt. D. W. Hamilton,
Indianapolis; Eighth, Capt. A. C. Ford, Terre Haute;
Ninth, Col. R. P. DeHart, Lafayette; Tenth, Capt. M.
L. DeMotte, Valparaiso; Eleventh, Col. C. E. Briant,
Huntington; Twelfth, Capt. J. C. Peltier, Fort Wayne;
Thirteenth, Gen. Reub. Williams, Warsaw. More than
100,000 people witnessed the pageant.
The monument is a majestic square embellished shaft of
Indiana limestone, some 250 feet high, surmounted by a
heroic figure of Victory, the pedestal resting upon a great
circular stone terrace. The architects were Bruno Schmitz,
of Berlin, and Frederick Baumann, of Chicago. The
ceremony of laying the corner-stone was conducted by the
following officials of the Grand Army of the Republic:
Commander of the Department of Indiana Charles M.
Travis, of Crawfordsville ; Senior Vice Department Com-
mander P. D. Harris, of Shelbyville ; Junior Vice-Com-
mander B. B. Campbell, of Anderson ; Assistant Adjutant-
General I. N. Walker, of Indianapolis ; Officers of the Day
Wm. H. Armstrong, of Indianapolis, and Lieut. -Gov.
Ira J. Chase, of Danville.
Gov. Alvin P. Hovey, as presiding officer, delivered an
eloquent opening address, which was followed by the sing-
ing of the hymn " Dedication, " written for the occasion by
214 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
Charles M. Walker, of Indianapolis. The speakers of the
day were Gen. Mahlon D. Manson, of Crawfordsville, and
Gen. John Coburn, of Indianapolis. Their masterly ora-
tions were followed by the reading of a poem, " What Shall
It Teach? " written by Capt. Lee O. Harris, of Greenfield.
When Governor Hovey introduced the Chief Executive
of the Nation the vast audience swayed with enthusiasm.
In a voice low, and with a slight tremble in it, President
Harrison began his fine tribute to the men who responded
to the country's call. As he proceeded his voice rose
higher until it rang out clear as a bugle and drew from
the multitude repeated and vociferous cheers. He spoke
as follows :
Mr. President and Fellow -citizens — I did not expect to make any
address on this occasion. It would have been pleasant, if I could
have found leisure to make suitable preparation, to have accepted
the invitation of the committee having these exercises in charge
to deliver an oration. I would have felt it an honor to associate
my name with an occasion so great as this. Public duties, how-
ever, prevented the acceptance of the invitation, and I could only
promise to be present with you to-day. It seemed to me most ap-
propriate that I should take part with my fellow-citizens of Indi-
ana in this great ceremony. There have been few occasions in the
history of our State so full of interest, so magnificent, so inspiring,
as that which we now witness. The suggestion that a monument
should be builded to commemorate the valor and heroism of those
soldiers of Indiana who gave their lives for the flag attracted my
interest from the beginning. Five years ago last January, when
the people assembled in the opera-house yonder to unveil the statue
which had been worthily set up to our great war Governor, I vent-
ured to express the hope that near by it, as a twin expression of
one great sentiment, there might be builded a noble shaft, not to
any man, not to bear on any of its majestic faces the name of -a
man, but a monument about which the sons of veterans, the moth-
ers of our dead, the widows that are yet with us, might gather,
and, pointing to the stately shaft, say: "There is his monument."
The hope expressed that day is realized now. [Cheers. ]
I congratulate the people of Indiana that our Legislature has
generously met the expectations of our patriotic people. I congrat-
ulate the commission having this great work in charge that they
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 215
have secured a design which will not suffer under the criticism of
the best artists of the world. I congratulate you that a monument
so costly as to show that we value that which it commemorates, so
artistic as to express the sentiment which evoked it, is to stand in
the capital of Indiana. Does any one say there is wastefulness
here? [Cries of "No, no!"] My countrymen, $200,000 has never
passed, and never will pass, from the treasury of Indiana that will
give a better return than the expend iture for the erection of this
monument. As I have witnessed these ceremonies and listened to
these patriotic hymns I have read in the faces of the men wTho
stand about me that lifting up of the soul, that kindling of patri-
otic fire, that has made me realize that on such occasions the Na-
tion is laying deep and strong its future security.
This is a monument by Indiana to Indiana soldiers. But I beg
you to remember that they were only soldiers of Indiana until the
enlistment oath was taken ; that from that hour until they came
back to the generous State that had sent them forth they were sol-
diers of the Union. So that it seemed to me not inappropriate that
I should bring to you to-day the sympathy and cheer of the loyal peo-
ple of all the States. No American citizen need avoid it or pass
it with unsympathetic eyes, for, my countrymen, it does not com-
memorate a war of subjugation. There is not in the United States
to-day a man who, if he realizes what has occurred since the war
and has opened his soul to the sight of that which is to come, who
will not feel that it is good for all our people that victory crowded
the cause which this monument commemorates. I do seriously be-
lieve that if we can measure among the States the benefits result-
ing from the preservation of the Union, the rebellious States have
the larger share. It destroyed an institution that was their de-
struction. It opened the way for a commercial life that, if they
will only embrace it and face the light, means to them a develop-
ment that shall rival the best attainments of the greatest of our
States.
And now let me thank you for your pleasant greeting. I have
felt lifted up by this occasion. It seems to me that our spirits
have been borne up to meet those of the dead and glorified, and
that from this place we shall go to our homes more resolutely set
in our purpose as citizens to conserve the peace and welfare of our
neighborhoods, to hold up the dignity and honor of our free insti-
tutions, and to see that no harm shall come to our country, whether
from internal dissensions or from the aggressions of a foreign foe.
[Great cheering.]
216 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
A camp-fire was held at night at Tomliiison Hall, pre-
sided over by Charles M. Travis, Commander of Indi-
ana G. A. R., where an audience of over 5,000 assem-
bled. The orators of the occasion were Hon. Samuel B.
Voyles, of Salem ; Judge Daniel Waugh, of Tipton ; Gen-
oral Jasper Packard, of New Albany ; Col. I. N. Walker
and Albert J. Beveridge, Indianapolis; Hon. Benj. S.
Parker, New Castle, and Hon. Wm. R Myers, Anderson.
President Harrison's appearance was greeted by a pro-
longed demonstration, the audience rising with one impulse.
Commander Travis said : " I told you I would treat you to
a surprise. Here is your President. He needs no intro-
duction."
President Harrison's reply was :
Mr. Chairman, Comrades — I think I will treat you to another sur-
prise. My Indiana friends have been so much accustomed to have
me talk on all occasions that I am sure nothing would gratify them
more — nothing would be a greater surprise than for me to decline to
talk to-night. I am very grateful for this expression of your inter-
est and respect. That comradeship and good feeling which your
cordial salutation has expressed to me I beg every comrade of the
Grand Army here to-night to believe I feel for him.
Now, I am sure, in view of the labors of yesterday and to-day,
that you will allow me to wish you prosperous, happy, useful lives,
honorable and peaceful deaths, and that those who survive you may
point to this shaft, which is being reared yonder, as a worthy trib-
ute of your services in defence of your country. [Cheers. ]
INDIANAPOLIS, AUGUST 23, 1889.
Reunion of the Seventieth Indiana.
THE day following the ceremonies at the Soldiers' Mon-
ument President Harrison attended the fifteenth annual
reunion of his old regiment, the Seventieth Indiana, at
Tomlinson Hall. Many survivors of the One Hundred and
Second and One Hundred and Fifth Indiana, the One Hun-
dred and Twenty-ninth Illinois, and the Seventy-ninth
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 217
Ohio regiments were present. These regiments, with the
Seventieth, constituted the First Brigade — General Harri-
son's command. The gathering, therefore, was alternately
a regimental and brigade reunion.
Col. Samuel Merrill, who delivered the annual ad-
dress, escorted the President, and amid enthusiastic
cheering installed him as presiding officer of the assembly.
Other prominent members of the Seventieth present were
Gen. Thomas J. Morgan, Capt. Win. M. Meredith, Daniel
M. Ransdell, Moses G. McLain, Capt. H. M. Endsley, Capt.
Win. Mitchell, and Capt. Chas. H. Cox. General Harri-
son was unanimously re-elected President of the regimen-
tal association ; he was also chosen first President of the
brigade association. The other brigade officers were
Vice-President, Gen. Daniel Dustin ; Second Vice-Presi-
dent, Gen. A. W. Doane; Secretary, J. M. Ay ers ; Treas-
urer, E. H. Conger.
In the absence of Mayor Denny, City Attorney W. L.
Taylor cordially welcomed the veterans to Indianapolis
To this greeting the presiding officer, President Harrison,
responded :
Mr. Taylor — The survivors of the Seventieth Indiana Volunteer
Infantry, now assembled in annual reunion, have heard, with great
gratification, the cordial words of welcome which you have ad-
dressed to us. We have never doubted the hospitality of the citi-
zens of this great city, and have several times held our reunions
here ; and if we have more frequently sought some of the quieter
towns in this Congressional district — where the regiment was organ-
ized— it has only been because we could be a little more to our-
selves than was possible in this city. You will not think this a
selfish instinct when I tell you that, as the years go on, these re-
unions of our regiment become more and more a family affair ;
and as in the gathering of the scattered members of a family in
the family reunion, so we have loved, when we get together as
comrades, to be somewhat apart, that we might enjoy each other.
It has been pleasant, I am sure, however, to link this annual re-
union with the great event of yesterday. It did us good to meet
with our comrades of the whole State — those who had other num-
bers on their uniforms, but carried the same flag under which we
218 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
marched — in these exercises connected with the dedication of a
monument that knows no regimental distinction. [Applause. ]
If those having charge now will announce some proper arrange-
ment by which I can take by the hand the members, not only of
the Seventieth Indiana, but any comrades of the First Brigade,
who have done us honor by meeting with us to-day, I would be
glad to conform to their wishes. It is perhaps possible that, with-
out leaving the hall, simply by an exchange of seats, this may be
accomplished, and when that is done there may yet be time before
dinner to proceed with some other of the exercises upon the pro-
gramme.
CHICAGO, DECEMBER 9, 1889.
MONDAY morning, December 9, 1889, President Harri-
son, accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. Russell B. Harrison,
Mrs. McKee, and First Ass't Postmaster- General J. S.
Clarkson and wife, arrived in Chicago for the purpose of
participating in the dedication of the great Auditorium
building, in which — while in an unfinished state — was held
the convention of June, 1888, that nominated General
Harrison for the presidency. The distinguished party
was met by a committee comprising Mayor D. C. Cregier,
Ferd. W. Peck, Gen. Geo. W. Crook, Hon. A. L. Seeberger,
Col. James A. Sexton, Alexander H. Revell, Franklin S.
Head, C. L. Hutchinson, Charles Counselman, J. J. P.
Odell, Col. O. A. Schaffner, F. S. Bissell, and R. W.
Dunham.
During the morning the President and Vice-President
Morton, under the guidance of Mr. Ferd. Peck, visited the
Board of Trade and were tendered an enthusiastic recep-
tion by the members of that famous exchange. Then
followed a reception and lunch at the Union League Club,
as the guests of Mr. Peck and President Bissell of the Club.
Other prominent citizens present were Governor Fifer,
Geo. M. Pullman, Marshall Field, Joseph Medill, S. M.
Nickerson, J. R. Rumsey, N". K. Fairbank, Sam. W. Aller-
ton, A. A. Sprague, H. H. Kohlsaat, Wm. Penn Nixon, A.
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 219
L. Patterson, Adolph Caron, C. I. Peck, A. L. Coe, John
R. Walsh, J. W. Scott, John B. Carson, M. A. Ryerson,
V. F. Lawson, and O. W. Meysenberg. Later in the after-
noon the President and Mr. Morton, accompanied by
Governor Hoard, of Wisconsin, General Alger, and Judge
Thurston, visited the Marquette Club — of which the Pres-
ident is an honorary member — and were received by Presi-
dent Revell, Secretary Gould, H. M. Kingman, C. W.
Gordon, and C. E. Nixon, comprising the Reception Com-
mittee.
The dedication of the auditorium hall in the evening
was an event of rare interest in the history of Chicago.
President Harrison and his party and Vice-President and
Mrs. Morton were the honored guests of the occasion.
Other distinguished out-of-town guests were Sir Adolph
Caron, Hon. G. A. Kirkpatrick, C. H. Mclntosh, and Mr.
Wells, of Canada ; Governor and Mrs. Fif er ; Governor
and Mrs. Merriam, of Minnesota ; Governor Hoard, of
Wisconsin; Governor and Mrs. Larrabee, of Iowa; Mrs.
Governor Gordon; ex-Governor Morton, of Nebraska;
General Alger, Judge and Mrs. Walter Q. Gresham ; Mr.
and Mrs. House, of St. Louis, and Mr. and Mrs. F. J.
Mackey, of Kansas City.
The Auditorium — the modern Parthenon — typifying the
spirit of the age, is largely the conception of Mr. Ferd. W.
Peck, and its realization is the fruit of his zeal, supported
and encouraged by the wealthy men of Chicago. The
great structure, costing three and a half million dollars,
was built by the Chicago Auditorium Association, whose
officers at the time of completion were : Ferd. W. Peck,
President; N. K. Fairbank, First Vice-President; John
R. Walsh, Second Vice-President ; Charles L. Hutchinson,
Treasurer; Charles H. Lunt, Secretary. The building was
begun June 1, 1887 ; the laying of the corner-stone occurred
in September that year, and was witnessed by President
Cleveland and other distinguished visitors. It has a front-
220 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
age of 710 feet on Congress Street, Michigan and Wabash
avenues. The exterior material is granite and Bedford
stone. The height of the main structure is 145 feet, or
ten stories; height of tower above main building 95 feet,
or eight floors ; height of lantern above main tower 30 feet,
or two floors ; total height 270 feet — one of the tallest build-
ings in the world. The permanent seating capacity of the
auditorium is over 4,000, but for conventions — by utiliz-
ing stage — this capacity is increased to 8,000. A feature
of the great hall is the grand organ. In addition to this
unrivalled convention hall the colossal structure contains a
recital hall, 136 stores and offices, a hotel with 400 guest
rooms, and a magnificent banquet hall 175 feet long.
The gathering at the dedicatory exercises nationalized
the Auditorium ; 15,000 people were within its walls. The
President and Mrs. McKee were the guests of Mr. and Mrs.
Ferd. W. Peck. Among the several thousand prominent
residents present were the following gentlemen and their
families — stockholders in the Auditorium Association : G.
E. Adams, A. C. Bartlett, G. M. Bogue, C. W. Brega, J.
W. Doane, J. B. Drake, J. K. Fisher, Carter H. Harrison,
Charles Henrotin, O. R. Keith, G. F. Kimball, S. D. Kim-
bark, J. T. Lester, W. L. Peck, R. W. Roloson, W. C.
Seipp, Lazarus Silverman, Robert Warren, John Wilkin-
son, Jr., C. S. Willoughby, C. T. Yerkes, J. McGregor
Adams,. W. T. Baker, Gen. J. C. Black, H. Botsford, R.
R. Cable, C. R. Cummings, J. C. Dore, G. L. Dunlap, C.
B. Farwell, J. J. Glessner, E. G. Kieth, W. D. Kerfoot, W.
W. Kimball, L. Z. Leiter, J. M. Loomis, A. A. Munger, N.
B. Ream, Conrad Seipp, J. G. Shortall, W. Sooy Smith, P.
B. Weare, Norman Williams, F. H. Winston, and J. Otto
Young.
The exercises opened with an address of welcome by
Mayor Cregier, followed by a speech from Mr. Peck, Pres-
ident of the Association, who received an ovation. Pres-
ident Harrison's address was followed by the rendition of
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 221
the hymn " America" by the Apollo Club of 500 trained
voices. Hon. John S. Runnells delivered the dedicatory
oration. Then came the real event of the day — " Home,
Sweet Home " and the " Swiss Echo Song " by the incom-
parable songstress Adelina Patti, who shared the honors
of the occasion with the President. The programme
concluded with an address by Governor Fifer and the
grand "Hallelujah" chorus from "The Messiah."
As Mr. Peck introduced President Harrison the great
assembly enthusiastically testified its welcome. The Pres-
ident spoke as follows :
Ladies and Gentlemen — Some of my newspaper friends have been
puzzling themselves in order to discover the reason why I left
Washington to be present here to-night. I do not think I need, in
view of the magnificent spectacle presented to us here to-night,
to state the motives which have impelled my presence. Surely
no loyal citizen of Chicago who sits here to-night under this witch-
ing and magnificent scene will ask for any other reason than that
which is here presented, [Applause. ]
I do most heartily congratulate you upon the completion and in-
auguration of this magnificent building — without an equal in this
country, and, so far as I know, without an equal in the world.
[Applause.] We have here about us to-night in this grand archi-
tecture, in this tasteful decoration, that which is an education
and an inspiration. [Applause.] It might well tempt one whose
surroundings were much farther removed from this scene than is
the capital city to make a longer journey than I have done to stand
for an hour in the view^ of such a spectacle of magnificence and
grandeur and architectural triumph as this. [Applause.] And if
that be true, surely there is reason enough why the President may
turn aside for a little while from public duty to mingle with his
fellow-citizens in celebrating an event so high and so worthy of
commemoration as this triumph to-night. [Prolonged applause. ]
Not speech, certainly, not the careless words of an extemporane-
ous speech, can adequately express all the sentiments I feel in con-
templating the fitting culmination of this deed. [Applause. ] Only
the voice of the immortal singer can bring from these arches those
echoes which will tell us the true purpose of their construction.
[Applause. ]
You will permit me, then, to thank you, to thank the Mavor of
Chicago, to thank the President of this Association, and to thank
222 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
all those good citizens with whom I have to-day been brought in
personal contact, for the kindness and respect with which you and
they have received me ; and 3*011 will permit me to thank you, my
fellow-citizens, for the cordiality which you have kindly displayed
here to-night.
It is my wish, and may it be the wish of all, that this great
building may continue to be to all your population that which it
should be— an edifice open ing its doors from night to night, calling
your people here away from the care of business to those enjoy-
ments, and pursuits, and entertainments which develop the souls
of men [applause], which will have power to inspire those whose
lives are heavy with daily toil, and in its magnificent and enchant-
ing presence lift them for a time out of these dull things into those
higher things where men should live. [Great applause. ]
CLEVELAND, OHIO, MAY 30, 1890.
Garfield Memorial Dedication.
ON Decoration Day, 1890, President Harrison and Vice-
President Morton, accompanied by Secretary Windom,
Postmaster-General Wanamaker, Attorney-General Mil-
ler, Secretary of Agriculture Rusk, and Marshal Daniel M.
Ransdell, visited the city of Cleveland for the purpose of
participating in the dedication of the grand mausoleum
erected to the memory of the lamented President James
Abram Garfield. Fifty thousand people greeted the Pres-
ident and his party on arrival.
The mausoleum is situated in Lake View Cemetery, over-
looking a region closely associated with Garfield 's memory ;
it is built of Ohio sandstone — a large and imposing circular
tojver 50 feet in diameter, rising 180 feet. At the base
projects a square porch, decorated externally with an
historical frieze, divided into panels containing life-size
bas-reliefs picturing the career of Garfield as teacher,
statesman, soldier, and President. This imposing monu-
ment was erected under the auspices of the Garfield
National Memorial Association, whose officers were:
Rutherford B. Hayes, President; J. H. Wade and T. P.
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 223
Handy, Vice- Presidents ; Amos Towiisend, Secretary.
The Trustees of the Association were: Charles Foster,
E. B. Hayes, James G. Elaine, H. B. Payne, J. H. Wade,
Dan'l P. Eells, J. H. Rhodes, James Barnett, John Hay,
T. P. Handy, J. B. Parsons, William Bingham, W. S.
Streator, and H. C. White. The memorial cost $150,000,
of which $75,000 was contributed by citizens of Cleve-
land ; the architect was George Keller, of Hartford, Con-
necticut.
More than 100,000 people witnessed the parade and the
dedicatory ceremonies, which were conducted under the
auspices of the Grand Commandery, Knights Templars
of Ohio — Right Eminent Henry Perkins, of Akron, Grand
Commander; Very Eminent William B. Melish, of Cin-
cinnati, Grand Marshal ; Eminent Sir Huntington Brown,
of Mansfield, Generalissimo ; Eminent Sir L. F. Van Cleve,
of Cincinnati, Grand Prelate ; Eminent Sir H. P. Mclii-
tosh, of Cleveland, Grand Senior Warden; and Eminent
Sir J. Burton Parsons, of Cleveland, Grand Treasurer.
The committee to receive and entertain the guests from
other cities comprised the following prominent residents of
Cleveland : Hon. J. H. Wade, Dan'l P. Eells, M. A. Han-
na, Col. William Edwards, Hon. R. C Parsons, Henry D.
Coffinberry, Gen. M. D. Leggett, Hon. George H. Ely,
Hon. Joseph Turney, Samuel Andrews, Hon. S. Buhrer,
Hon. H. B. Payne, Charles F. Brush, Hon. Charles A. Otis,
R. K. Hawley, William Chisholm, H. R. Hatch, W. J.
McKinnie, John Tod, ,Hon. N. B. Sherwin, L. E. Holden,
George W. Howe, Samuel L. Mather, Judge S. Burke, Col.
John Hay, Hon. T. E. Burton, Hon. R. R. Herrick, Selah
Chamberlain, A. Wiener, Charles Wesley, Hon. Lee Mc-
Bride, Hon. O. J. Hodge, H. C. Ranney, G. E. Herrick,
Hon. W. W. Armstrong, S. T. Everett, Judge J. M. Jones,
Hon. J. H. Farley, Hon. G. W. Gardner, R. R. Rhodes,
J. B. Zerbe, Samuel W. Sessions, Louis H. Severance,
Hon. M. A. Foran, Hon. C B. Lock wood, Hon. William
224 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
Bingham, John F. Whitelaw, Fayette Brown, Capt. P. G.
Watmough, E. R. Perkins, Bolivar Butts, George T. Chap-
man, Hon. D. A. Dangler, Charles Hickox, and George
W. Pack. Committee on Finance: John H. McBride,
Myron T. Herrick, S. C. Ford, Joseph Turney, Charles
L. Pack, H. S. Whittlesey, H. R. Groff, Percy' W. Rice,
Charles H. Bulkley, Douglas Perkins, Kaufman Hays, M.
A. Hanna, T. S. Knight, James Parmelee, I. P. Lampson,
Samuel Mather, O. M. Stafford, C. J. Sheffield, Harvey H.
Brown, J. K. Bole, Dan'l P. Eells, H. R. Hatch, John F.
Pankhurst, John Tod, and George P. Welch.
The event called together one of the most distinguished
assemblies of the decade. Among the guests not previ-
ously mentioned — who occupied places of honor — were
Gen. William T. Sherman, " Chief- Justice Melville W.
Fuller, Maj. -Gen. John M. Schofield, ex-Postmaster-Gen-
eral Thomas L. James, Gov. James E. Campbell, Lieuten-
ant-Governor Marquis, Hon. William McKinley, Jr.,
Bishop William A. Leonard, Bishop Gilmour, Col. Wm.
Perry Fogg, and many others. Mrs. Garfield was accom-
panied by her four sons, her daughter, and General and
Mrs. John Newell.
The spectacular event of the day was the grand military
and civic parade, participated in by President Harrison
and the other guests. Six thousand men were in line, com-
manded by Chief Marshal Gen. James Barnett and a brill-
iant staff. At the head of the great column marched 115
survivors of Garfield 's old regiment — the Forty-second
Ohio— led by Capt. C. E. Henry, of Dallas, Texas, the Col-
onel, Judge Don A. Pardee, being absent. The procession
comprised twelve divisions, commanded by the following
marshals: Capt. J. B. Molyneaux, Gen. M. D. Leggett,
Col. W. H. Hayward, Em. Sir M. J. Houck, Col. Louis
Black, Col. John Dunn, Capt. E. H. Bohm, Captain
McNiel, Capt. Louis Perczel, Col. Allen T. Brinsmade,
Col. C. L. Alderson, and Capt. M. G. Browne.
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 225
Ex-President Hayes officiated as Chairman of the dedi-
catory meeting at the mausoleum, and introduced Hon.
Jacob D. Cox, of Cincinnati, who delivered the oration of
the occasion. Many other distinguished men spoke briefly.
When the Chairman introduced President Harrison an
ovation was tendered him, and almost every sentence of
his address was enthusiastically cheered.
The President spoke with great earnestness. He said :
Mr. Chairman and Fellow citizens — I thank you most sincerely
for this cordial greeting, but I shall not be betrayed by it into a
lengthy speech. The selection of this day for these exercises — a
day consecrated to the memory of those who died that there might
be one flag of honor and authority in this republic — is most fitting.
That one flag encircles us with its folds to day, the unrivalled ob-
ject of our loyal love.
This monument, so imposing and tasteful, fittingly typifies the
grand and symmetrical character of him in whose honor it has
been builded. His was "'the arduous greatness of things done."
No friendly hands constructed and placed for his ambition a ladder
upon which he might climb. His own brave hands framed and
nailed the cleats upon which he climbed to the heights of public
usefulness and fame. He never ceased to be student and instructor.
Turning from peaceful pursuits to army service, he quickly mas-
tered tactics and strategy, and in a brief army career taught some
valuable lessons in military science. Turning again from the field
to the councils of state, he stood among the great debaters that
have made our National Congress illustrious. What he might have
been or done as President of the United States is chiefly left to
friendly augury, based upon a career that had no incident of fail,
ure or inadequacy. The cruel circumstances attending his death
had but one amelioration — that space of life was given him to teach
from his dying bed a great lesson of patience and forbearance.
His mortal part will find honorable rest here, but the lessons of his
life and death will continue to be instructive and inspiring inci-
dents in American history. [Great applause.]
15
226 HARJRISON'S SPEECHES.
BOSTON, AUGUST 11, 1890.
The Guest of Massachusetts.
MONDAY afternoon, August 11, the cruiser Baltimore,
bearing President Harrison, Secretary Rusk, Secretary
Noble, and a number of friends, entered Boston harbor,
saluted by the Atlanta, the Kearsage, the Petrel, the
Yorktown, the Dolphin, the dynamite cruiser Vesuvius,
and the torpedo-boat dishing. The distinguished guests
were met by the Hon. John Q. A. Brackett, Governor of
Massachusetts ; Hon. Alanson W. Beard, Collector of the
Port; Adj. -Gen. Samuel Dalton, Surg.-Gen. Alfred F.
Holt, Judge Adv. Gen.,Edward O. Shepard, Col. Sidney
M. Hedges, Col. Wm. P.'stoddard, Col. Samuel E. Wins-
low, and Col. Edward V. Mitchell, of the Governor's mili-
tary staff; Hon. Thomas N. Hart, Mayor of Boston; Hon.
Geo. L. Goodale, Chairman Executive Committee National
Encampment, G. A. R. ; Hon. John D. Long, President
National Encampment Committee ; Hon. E. S. Converse,
Treasurer ; and Secretary Silas A. Barton.
Many thousand visiting veterans greeted the head of
the Nation as he passed through the historic streets es-
corted by the First Battalion of Cavalry. Arrived at the
Hotel Vendome, the President and his party, as guests of
the Commonwealth, attended a State banquet, presided
over by Governor Brackett. There was no speech-making.
Other distinguished guests were Vice-President Morton,
Secretaries Proctor and Tracy, General Sherman, Admiral
Gherardi, Gov. Leon Abbett, of New Jersey, and Lieu ten-
ant-Governor Hale, of Massachusetts. Later in the evening
Governor Brackett and staff escorted the President to the
Parker House, where they participated in a reception given
by E. W. Kinsley Post of Boston to Lafayette Post 149 of
New York. Many veterans of national fame were present,
among them Gen. Lucius Fairchild, Gen. Dan'l E. Sickles,
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 227
Corporal James Tanner, ex-Gov. Austin Blair, of Michi-
gan, Commander Viele, of Lafayette Post, and the follow-
ing prominent citizens of Massachusetts, comprising the
Reception Committee of the National Encampment : lion.
Henry H. Sprague, President Massachusetts Senate; Hon.
Win. E. Barrett, Speaker Massachusetts House; Hon.
Win. Power Wilson, Chairman Boston Aldermen ; Horace
G. Allen, President Common Council; Hon. John F. An-
drew, Geo. H. Innis, Charles E. Osgood, Arthur A. Fowle,
Fred C. King, Paul H. Kendricken, J. H. O'Neil, Joel
Goldthwaite, Hon. Charles J. Noyes, Hon. E. A. Stevens,
Horace G. Allen, Capt. Nathan Appleton, Col. Albert
Clarke, Chas. D. Rohan, F. C. Brownell, and A. S. Fowle,
of Boston; Gen. A. B. R. Sprague and Col. H. E. Smith, of
Worcester; John W. Hersey, of Springfield; John M.
Deane, Fall River; Gen. J. W. Kimball, Fitchburg; Maj.
Geo. S. Merrill, Lawrence; Wm. H. Lee, Greenwood; S.
W. Benson, Charlestown ; Joseph O. Burdett, Hingham ;
Col. Myron P. Walker, Belchertown; and Arthur A.
Smith, of Gris wolds ville. The reception concluded with
a banquet. Col. Charles L. Taylor acted as toastmaster
and presented General Harrison, who received an ovation.
In response to these cordial greetings the President said :
Comrades — I do not count it the least of those fortunate circum-
stances which have occasionally appeared in my life that I am able
to be here to-night to address you as comrades of the Grand Army
of the United States. [Great applause.] It is an association great
in its achievement and altogether worthy of perpetuation until the
last of its members have fallen into an honorable grave. It is
not my purpose to-night to address you in an extended speech, but
only to say that, whether walking with you in the private pursuits
of life, or holding a place of official responsibility, I can never, in
either, forget those who upheld the flag of this Nation in those days
when it was in peril. Everything that was worthy of preservation
in our history past, everything that is glowing and glorious in the
future, which we confront, turned upon the issue of that strife in
which you were engaged. Will you permit me to wish for each of
you a life full of all sweetness, and that each of you may preserve,
228 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
uudimmed, the love for the flag which called you from your homes
to stand under its folds amid the shock of battle and amid dying
men. I believe there are indications to-day in this country of a
revived love for the flag. [Applause. ] I could wish that no Amer-
ican citizen would look upon it without saluting it, [Loud ap-
plause. ]
BOSTON, AUGUST 12.
G. A. R. National Encampment.
THE morning of August 12 the President and the sev-
eral members of his Cabinet, with Vice-President Morton,
Governor Brackett, Mayor Hart, General Sherman,
Governor Dillingham and staff, of Vermont; Governor
Davis, of Ehode Island ; Hon. William McKinley, Hon.
Henry Cabot Lodge, Mrs. John A. Logan, Mrs. R. A.
Alger, Mrs. McKee, Mrs. A. L. Coolidge, and Lillian
Nordica, the prima donna, reviewed the grand parade of
the veterans from a stand in Copley Square. As the head
of the great column appeared, led by Commander-in-Chief
R. A. Alger, with mounted staff and escort numbering
600 officers, the President and his Cabinet arose and sa-
luted the veterans. General Alger and Gen. B. F. Butler
reviewed the column from a stand in Adams Square. The
parade was five hours and thirty-five minutes in passing.
In the evening the Mayor's Club of Boston tendered a ban-
quet to President Harrison and other distinguished vis-
itors. Mayor Fisher, of Waltham, introduced the Chief
Executive, who said :
Mr. Chairman— I wish only to thank you for this cordial wel-
come. Being upon my feet, I cannot refrain from expressing here
my deep sense of gratitude for all the evidences of friendliness
which have been shown me during my brief stay in Boston. The
President of the United States, whosoever he may have been, from
the first to the last, has always found in the citizenship of Massa-
chusetts stanch supporters of the Union's Constitution. [Applause. ]
It has never occurred that he has called upon this great common-
HARRISONS SPEECHES. 229
wealth for support that it has not been cordially and bravely ren
clered. In this magnificent parade which we have seen to-day of
the survivors of the Massachusetts regiments in the war for the
Union, and in this magnificent parade of the Sons of Veterans,
coming on now to take the fathers' place in civil life and to stand
as they were in their day as bulwarks of the Nation's defence, we
have seen a magnificent evidence of what Massachusetts has done
in defence of the Union and of the flag, and in these young
men sure promise of what she would do again if the exigencies
should call upon her to give her blood in a similar cause. [Ap-
plause. ]
Let me again cordially thank you for your interest and friendli-
ness and to bid you good-night, and, as I must leave you to night for
Washington, to hope that the closing exercises of this grand and
instructive week may be pleasant, and as the outcome of it all that
there may be kindled in the hearts of you all, and of these com-
rades of the Grand Army of the Republic, a newer love for the
flag and for the Constitution, and that this may all inure to us in
social, family, and public life. [Applause and cheers.]
Quitting the Mayor's banquet, the President and mem-
bers of the Cabinet, with Admiral Gherardi and staff, pro-
ceeded to Mechanics' Hall, where a joint reception of the
Grand Army and Woman's Relief Corps was in progress.
At least 15,000 people greeted the arrival of the distin-
guished visitors. On the platform with the President's
party were Miss Florence Barker, first President Woman's
Relief Corps; Mrs. Annie Wittenmyer, National Presi-
dent; Miss Clara Barton, President Red Cross Associa-
tion; Mrs. Mary E. Knowles, Massachusetts Department
President; Mrs. Cheney, National Secretary ; Mrs. Lynch,
National Treasurer; Mrs. Nichols, National Inspector of
the Relief Corps; Department Commander T. S. Clarkson,
Nebraska; Department Commander P. H. Darling, Ohio;
Governor Brackett and Congressman McKinley. George
H. Innis, Commander Massachusetts Department, wel-
comed the visiting comrades. Other speakers were Gen-
eral Sherman, Commander-in-Chief Alger, and Vice-Presi-
dent Morton.
General Harrison was introduced as Comrade Harrison,
230 HARRISOX'S SPEECHES.
President of the United States, and was greeted with
tremendous applause. He spoke as follows :
Mr. Chairman and Comrades of the Grand Army of the Republic
— I had impressions both pleasurable and painful as I looked upon
the great procession of veterans which swept through the streets of
this historic capital to-day ; pleasurable in the contemplation of
so many faces of those who shared together the perils and glories of
the great struggle for the Union ; sensations of a mournful sort as
I thought how seldom we should meet again. Not may times more
here. As I have stood in the great national cemetery at Arlington
and have seen those silent battalions of the dead, I have thought
how swiftly the reaper is doing his work and how soon in the
scattered cemeteries of the land the ashes of all the soldiers of
the great war shall be gathered to honored graves. And yet I could
not help but feel that in the sturdy tread of those battalions there
was yet strength of heart and limb that would not be withheld
if a present peril should confront the Nation that you love.
[Applause.] And if Arlington is the death, we see to-day in the
springing step of those magnificent battalions of the Sons of
Veterans the resurrection. [Applause. J They are coming on to
take our places , the Nation will not be defenceless when we are
gone, but those who have read about the firesides of the veterans'
homes, in which they have been born and reared, the lessons
of patriotism and the stories of heroism will come fresh armed to
any conflict thab may confront us in the future. [Applause.]
And so to-night we may gather from this magnificent spectacle
a fresh and strong sense of security for the permanency of our
country and our free institutions. I thought it altogether proper
that I should take a brief furlough from official duties at Washing-
ton to mingle with you here to-day as a comrade [applause], be-
cause every President of the United States must realize that the
strength of the Government, its defence in war, the army that is
to muster under its banner when our Nation is assailed, is to be
found here in the masses of our people. [Applause and cries of
"Good!"] And so, as my furlough is almost done, and the train
is already waiting that must bear me back to Washington, I can
only express again the cordial, sincere, and fraternal interest which
I feel this day in meeting you all. I can only hope that God will
so order the years that are left to you that for you and those who
are dear to you they may be ordered in all gentleness and sweet-
ness, in all prosperity and success, and that, when at last the com-
rades who survive you shall wrap the flag of the Union about your
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 231
body and bear it to the grave, you may die in peace and iii the
hope of a glorious resurrection ! [Applause. J
CRESSON, PENNSYLVANIA, SEPTEMBER 13.
NEARLY 1,000 veterans from the several G. A. R. posts
of Altoona, Tyronne, and Holidaysburg visited Cresson on
September 13, 1890, for the purpose of paying their respects
to President Harrison. General Ekin and Col. Theo.
Burchfield headed the delegation. Other prominent vet-
erans were Post Commanders Painter, Beighel, Lewis, and
Calvin; J. C. Walters, W. H. Fentiman, Rob't Howe,
Maj. John R. Garden, George Kuhn, William Aiken,
Oliver Sponsler, Wm. Guyer, Hon. J. W. Curry, Capt.
Joseph W. Gardner, and ex-Mayor Breth, of Altoona.
The President received the veterans at the Mountain
House. After the reception J. D. Hicks delivered a con-
gratulatory address on behalf of the veterans.
General Harrison, speaking from the balcony of the
hotel, warmly thanked his comrades for their good wishes,
and in mentioning the events of the war referred feelingly
to the tragic death of the great Lincoln and the memorable
words of Garfield on that occasion. His reference to the
Constitution-and the flag, and the love of the people for
them, elicited a hearty response. He concluded as follows :
"Now, my comrades, who have suffered and still suffer
for your country, I wish in this world all good to you and
your dear ones, and in the world to come joy everlasting. "
OSCEOLA, PENNSYLVANIA, SEPTEMBER 20.
DURING the stay of the President and his family at Cres-
son Springs in September, 1890, they made an excursion
through the celebrated Clearfield coal regions, under the
guidance of Frank L. Sheppard, General Superintendent of
the Pennsylvania Railroad, Geo. W. Boyd, Ass't Gen'l Pas-
232 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
senger Agent, Gen. D. H. Hastings, and S. S. Blair. The
party comprised the President and Mrs. Harrison, Mr. and
Mrs. J. R. McKee, Mrs. Dimmick, and Miss Alice Sanger,
accompanied by Hon. John Patton, of Curwensville, Mr.
and Mrs. W. H. Dill, of Clearfield, and F. N. Barksdale.
The first point visited was Osceola, where 5,000 people
tendered the President a rousing reception. The Commit-
tee of Reception were Geo. M. Brisbin, D. R. Good, R. J.
Walker, T. C. Heims, and J. R. Paisley. The veterans
of McLarren Post, G. A. R., acted as an escort through
the town from one depot to the other. The President
briefly thanked the veterans and citizens for extending
him such a cordial reception.
HOUTZDALE, PENNSYLVANIA, SEPTEMBER 20.
ARRIVED at Houtzdale, about noon Saturday, the Presi-
dent and his party were welcomed by an assemblage num-
bering fully 10, 000. They were met at Osceola by an escort
committee consisting of G. W. Dickey, Abe Feldman,
Julius Viebahn, Thos. Rolands, B. W. Hess, W. E. Meek,
W. C. Davis, W. B. Hamilton, J. V. Henderson, J. B.
McGrath, James White, D. W. Smith, John Charlton,
W. H. Patterson, and Thomas Byers.
All work in the mines and stores was suspended for the
day, and the visit of the Chief Magistrate was celebrated
with a grand parade and demonstration directed by Chief
Burgess John Argyle, aided by the G. A. R. veterans.
The President was received by the following committee of
prominent citizens: W. Irvin Shaw, Esq., of the Clear-
field County Bar; W. C. Langsford, Alex. Monteith, John
F. Farrell, Geo. P. Jones, Joseph Delehunt, Harry Roach,
Ad. Hanson, S. T. Henderson, R. R. Fleming, and E. J.
Duffy. The veterans of Wm. H. Kinkead Post acted as
a guard of honor to the President during the parade.
A notable incident of the demonstration was the recep-
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 233
tion by the children of the parochial school. After the
parade the formal reception of the distinguished visitors
took place in the presence of the great assemblage. John
F. Farrell presided, and introduced Chairman W. I. Shaw,
who delivered an eloquent address of welcome on behalf of
the citizens.
President Harrison responded as follows :
My Fellow -citizens — I beg to assure you that I very highly appre-
ciate your cordial welcome. I did not need the assurance of him
who has spoken in your name that we are welcome in this home
of profit and industry. As I have passed along the streets, and as
I now look into your eyes, I have read welcome in every face. I
do not regard this greeting as personal. How can it be, since you
look into my face as I into yours for the first time? I assume that
in this demonstration you are evidencing your loyalty and fidelity
to the Government of which we are all citizens.
You welcome me as one who, for the time being by your choice,
is charged with the execution of the law. It is a great thing to be
a citizen of this country, and the privilege has its corresponding
obligations. This Government can never be wrecked by the treason
or fault of those who for the time are placed in public position so
long as the people are true to the principles of the Government and
to the flag. [Applause. ] Set your love upon the flag and that
which it represents. Be ready, if occasion should call, to defend
it, as my brave comrades did in the time of its greatest peril.
Honor it in peace, cherish your loyal institutions, civil and edu-
cational ; maintain social order in your community, let every one
have respect for the rights #nd privileges of others while asserting
his own.
These are the springs of our national and social life. If these
springs are kept pure and strong the great river they form will
ever flow on in purity and majesty. If local interests are carefully
preserved the general good is secured, and all our people, each in
his own place — the place where he labors, the place where he lives,
the roof under which his family is sheltered — will continue to
enjoy the benison of liberty in the fear of God.
To every one of you, those who come from the village shops,
those who come from the mines and every vocation of life to join
in this welcome, let me declare that I have no other purpose as
President of the United States than to so administer my office as to
promote the general good of all our people. [Great applause.]
234 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
PHILIPSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, SEPTEMBER 20.
OTHER points visited were Clearfield, where the veter-
ans of Lamar Post and Colonel Barrett at the head of a com-
mittee received the distinguished excursionists. At Cur-
wens ville the party became the guests of A. E. Patton,
and the President shook hands with 1,500 residents.
Philipsburg was reached at 3 P.M. The entire popula-
tion of the town welcomed the President. The Reception
Committee comprised Major H. C. Warfel, Hon. Chester
Munson, J. B. Childs, O. P. Jones, S. S. Crissman, W.
E. Irwin, Dr. T. B. Potter, Capt, J. H. Boring, M. G.
Lewis, Henry Lehman, H. K. Grant, Al. Jones, W. T.
Bair, Geo. W. Wythes, A. B. Herd, John Nuttall, and
A. J. Graham. The President and Mrs. Harrison were
driven through the city, which was elaborately decorated.
Returning to the station Mayor Warfel introduced the
President, who said :
Citizens of Philipsburg— I thank you for this very cordial expres-
sion of your esteem. You must excuse my not addressing you at
any length because of the very limited time at our disposal. I
again thank you.
WESTERN TOUR, OCTOBER, 1890.
ON the morning of October G, 1890, President Harrison
left Washington to attend the reunion of the First Brigade,
Twentieth Army Corps, at Galesburg, 111., and to visit
points in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Indiana. He was
accompanied by Secretary Tracy, Gen. Charles H. Gros-
venor, Private Secretary Halford, Marshal Daniel M.
Ransdell, Capt. Wm. M. Meredith, Gen. T. J. Morgan,
and E. F. Tibbott, stenographer.
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 235
CLIFTON FORGE, VIRGINIA, OCTOBER 6.
THE trip through Virginia was uneventful. At Staun-
ton the President was serenaded, and among those who met
him were ex-Congressman Desendorf, of Virignia, and
David Stewart, of Indianapolis. Clifton Forge was reached
at twilight, and nearly 1,000 residents heartily cheered the
President and called for a speech. In response he said :
My Friends — I hope you will excuse me from making a speech.
I have travelled for tho first time over the Chesapeake and Ohio
Railroad, and I have noticed with great interest and pleasure the
development which is being made along the road of the mineral
resources of the State of Virginia. What I have seen moves me to
offer my sincere congratulations on what you have already accom-
plished, and what is surely in store for you if you but make use
of your resources and opportunities. [Cheers. ]
LAWRENCEBURG, INDIANA, OCTOBER 7.
AT Cincinnati, Tuesday morning, the party was joined
by Archibald Eaton, the President's nephew; Col. W. B.
Shattuc, Col. John C. New, and a committee of escort
from Lawrenceburg, comprising Gen. Thomas J. Lucas,
Archibald Shaw, John O. Cravens, John K. Thompson,
and Valentine J. Koehler. Near North Bend, Ohio, the
old Harrison homestead was reached, and the train came
to a stop just abreast the house in which Benjamin Harri-
son was born, and but a few yards from the white shaft
that marks the tomb of his illustrious ancestor, President
William Henry Harrison. The occasion was not for
words, and as the President passed to the rear platform he
was unaccompanied by the rest of the party, who left him
to the memories that the scenes of his childhood and
youth called forth.
Arrived at Lawrenceburg the President was visibly
affected at meeting many old friends and neighbors of
23G HAKRISOX'S SPEECHES.
years ago. Among the leading citizens who welcomed
him were: John Isherwood, Z. Heustes, Peter Braun,
Dr. J. D. Gatch, Frank R. Dorman, D. W. C. Fitch, J.
H. Burkham, W. H. Rucker, Wm. Probasco, Louis Adler,
H. G. Kidd, John S. Dorman, John B. Gamier, A. D.
Cook, Chas. Decker, John F. Cook, Dr. T. C. Craig,
C. J. B. Ragin, J. E. Larimer, D. E. Sparks, and Capt.
John Shaw; also, M. C. Garber, of Madison, Robert
Cain, of Brookville, and Alfred Shaw, of Vevay, Ind.
The President addressed the large assembly in a voice
heavy with emotion. He said :
My Friends — I want to thank you very cordially for this greet-
ing. All the scenes about here are very familiar to me. This town
of Lawrenceburg is the first village of my childish recollections,
and as I approached it this morning, past the earliest home of my
recollections, the home in which my childhood and early manhood
were spent, memories crowded in upon me that were very full of in-
terest, very full of pleasure, and yet full of sadness. They bring back
to me those who once made the old home very dear, the most precious
spot on earth. I have passed with bowed head the place where they
rest. We are here in our generation, with the work of those who have
gone before upon us. Let us see, each of us, that in the family, in
the neighborhood, and in the State, we do at least with equal cour-
age, and grace, and kindness, the work which was so bravely,
kindly, and graciously done by those who filled our places fifty years
ago. Now, for I must hurry on, to these old friends, and to these
new friends who have come in since Lawrenceburg was familiar
to me, I extend again my hearty thanks for this welcome, and beg,
in parting, to introduce the only member of my Cabinet who ac-
companies me, General Tracy, Secretary of the Navy.
NORTH VERNON, INDIANA, OCTOBER 7.
AT North Vernoii, Jennings County, many old acquaint-
ances greeted the President, among them J. C. Cope, John
Fable, P. C. McGannon, and others. Acknowledging the
repeated cheers of the assembly, the President said :
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 237
My Friends — I am very glad to see you, and very much obliged
to you for your pleasurable greeting. It is always a pleasure to
see my old Indiana friends. We have had this morning a delight-
ful ride across the southern part of the State, one that has given
me a great deal of refreshment and pleasure. [Cheers. ] Let me
again assure you that I am very much obliged to you for this evi-
dence of your friendship. I hope you will excuse me from further
speech on this occasion. It gives me pleasure now, my fellow -citi-
zens, to introduce to you General Tracy, of New York, the Secre-
tary of the Navy, who accompanies me on this trip. [Cheers.]
SEYMOUR, INDIANA, OCTOBER 7.
AT Seymour, Jackson County, 2,000 citizens gave evi-
dence of General Harrison's popularity in that town.
Among the prominent residents who welcomed him were
Hon. W. K. Marshall, Louis Schneck, Travis Carter, Ph.
Wilhelm, W. F. Peters, J. B. Morrison, R. F. White, S.
E. Carter, John A. Ross, John A. Weaver, L. M. Mains,
John A. Gooclale, Theo. B. Ridlen, and V. H. Monroe.
•After he had introduced Secretary Tracy, the Presi-
dent said :
My Friends — I feel that I ought to thank you for your friendly
greeting this beautiful morning. It is a pleasure indeed to me to
greet so many of you. Again I thank you for this welcome. A
request has just been handed me that I speak a few minutes to the
school children here assembled. I scarcely know what to say to
them, except that I have a great interest in them, and the country
has a great interest in them. Those who, like myself, have passed
the meridian of life realize more than younger men that the places
we now hold and the responsibilities we now carry in society and
in all social and business relations must devolve upon those who
are now in the school. Our State has magnificently provided for
their education, so that none of them need be ignorant, and I am
sure that in these happy homes the fathers and mothers are not
neglecting their duties, but are instilling into these young minds
morality and respect for the law which must crown intelligence in
order to make them.
238 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
SHOALS, INDIANA, OCTOBER 7.
THE citizens of Shoals, the county seat of Martin County,
gave the President a most cordial reception. Prominent
among those friends who welcomed him were R. E. Hunt,
J. A. Chenoweth, J. P. Albaugh, J. B. Freeman, J. T.
Rogers, M. Shirey, S. P. Yeune, H. Q. Houghton, James
Mahany, C. H. Mohr, S. 1ST. Gwin, F. J. Hasten, C. S.
Dobbins, and 1ST. H. Mat-singer.
Responding to their cheers and calls the President said :
My Felloiv- citizens — I am very glad to see you. My trip this
morning is more like a holiday than I have had for a longtime. I
am glad to see the cordiality of your welcome. It makes me feel
that I am still held somewhat in the esteem of the people whose
friendship I so very much covet and desire to retain. [Cheers.]
SULLIVAN, INDIANA, OCTOBER 7.
IT was an agreeable surprise to the President to find
several thousand people awaiting an opportunity to greet
him at the town of Sullivan. Of prominent townsmen
there were present J. H. Clugage, G. W. Buff, Rob't H.
Crowder, John T. Hays, C. P. Lacey, C. F. Briggs, O.
H. Crowder, S. Goodman, R. B. Mason, W. A. Bell, Jo-
seph Hayden, John H. Dickerson, and R. F. Knotts.
In answer to repeated calls for a speech the President
said:
My Friends — Some of you have requested that I would give you
a little talk. The range of things that I can say on an occasion like
this is very limited, but one thing, though it seems to involve
repetition, I can say to you very heartily and very sincerely : I am
very glad to again look into the faces of my Indiana friends. I
trust I have friends that are not in Indiana, but my earliest and
my best are here. Again I thank you. [Cheers.]
HARBISON'S SPEECHES. 239
TERRE HAUTE, INDIANA, OCTOBER 7.
THE principal demonstration of the day was at Terre
Haute, where fully 10,000 people greeted the President.
The following Reception Committee escorted the party from
Vincennes : Hon. W. R. McKeen, H. Hulman, Sr., Judge
C. F. McNutt, George W. Faris, Samuel Huston, A. Herz,
W. C. Isbell, R. A. Campbell, Dr. Rob't Van Valzah, Jacob
D. Early, George E. Pugh, A. G. Austin, F. E. Benja-
min, and B. G. Hudiiut. En route to the speaker's stand
every bell and steam whistle in the city added its tribute
to the enthusiasm of the occasion. This unique Hoosier
welcome was arranged by D. C. Greiner. Other leading
citizens participating prominently in the reception were :
D. W. Minshall, N. Filbeck, Judge B. E. Rhoades, S. C.
Beach, J. S. Tally, Senator Bischawsky, G. W. Bement,
Jay Cummings, Geo. M. Allen, and P. S. Westfall.
Mayor Frank C. Danaldsoii made the welcoming ad-
dress, and concluded by introducing President Harrison,
who said :
Mr. Mayor, Fellow citizens of Indiana, Ladies and Gentlemen— I
very heartily appreciate this large gathering assembled to greet me.
I very heartily appreciate the welcome which your kind and ani-
mated faces, as well as the spoken words of the chief officer of your
city, have extended to me. I have known this pretty city for more
than thirty years, and have watched its progress and growth. It
has always been the home of some of my most cherished personal
friends, and I am glad to know that your city is in an increasing
degree prosperous, and your people contented and happy. I am
glad to know that the local industries which Jiave been established
in your midst are to-day busy in producing their varied products,
and that these find a ready market at remunerative prices. I was
told as we approached your city that there was not an idle wheel
in Terre Haute, It is very pleasant to know that this prosperity is
so generally shared by all our people. Hopefulness, and cheer, and
courage tend to bring and maintain good times.
We differ widely in our views of public politics, but I trust
every one of us is devoted to the flag which represents the unity
240 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
and power of our country and to the best interests of the people,
as we are given to see and understand those interests. [Applause. ]
We are in the enjoyment of the most perfect system of government
that has ever been devised for the use of men. We are under fewer
restraints ; the individual faculties and liberties have wider range
here than in any other land. Here a sky of hope is arched over
the head of every ambitious, industrious, and aspiring young man.
There are no social conditions ; there are no unneeded legal restric-
tions. Let us continue to cherish these institutions and to main-
tain them in their best development. Let us see that as far as our
influence can bring it to pass they are conducted for the general
good. [Applause.]
It gives me pleasure to bring into your city to-day one who is the
successor as the head of the Navy Department of that distinguished
citizen of Indiana who is especially revered and loved by all the
people of Terre Haute, but is also embraced in the wider love of
all the citizens of Indiana — Col. Richard W. Thompson. Let me
present to you Gen. Benjamin F. Tracy, of New York, the Secretary
of the Navy. [Cheers.]
DANYILLE, ILLINOIS, OCTOBER 7.
DANVILLE was reached at (> P.M. The roar of cannon
sounded a hearty welcome to the Prairie State. Fully
10,000 people were assembled around the pavilion erected
near the station. Among the prominent residents who
received the President on the part of the citizens were :
Hon. Joseph G. Cannon, Mayor W. R. Lawrence, Justice
J. W. Wilkin, of the Supreme Court of Illinois, Col.
Samuel Stansbury, H. P. Blackburn, W. R. Jewell, M.
J. Barger, W. C. Tuttle, Henry Brand, and Capt. J. G.
Hull.
Congressman Cannon introduced the President, who
said :
My Fellow -citizens — I regret that the time of our arrival and
the brief time we can give you should make it so inconvenient for
you who have assembled here to greet us. Yet, though the dark-
ness shuts out your faces, I cannot omit to acknowledge with the
most heartfelt gratitude the enthusiastic greeting of this large as-
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 241
sembly of my fellow -citizens. It is quite worthwhile, I think, for
those who are charged with great public affairs now and then to
turn aside from the routine of official duties to look into the faces
of the people. [Applause.] It is well enough that all public offi-
cers should be reminded that under our republican institutions the
repository of all power, the originator of all policy, is the people
of the United States. [Great applause.] I have had the pleasure
of visiting this rich and prosperous section of your great State
before, and am glad to notice that, if the last year has not yielded
an average return to your farms, already the promise of the coming
year is seen in your well- tilled fields. Let me thank you again
and bid you good-night. [Great applause.]
CHAMPAIGN, ILLINOIS, OCTOBER 7.
AT Urbana, 111., Secretary Tracy addressed several thou-
sand residents. At Champaign the citizens were attended
by the students of the University of Illinois, who received
the President with their college cheer. Among the lead-
ing citizens who participated in welcoming the Chief
Executive were Dr. L. S. Wilcox, John W. Spalding,
F.K. Robinson, P. W. Woody, H. H. Harris, J. L. Ray,
T. J. Smith, H. Swannell, Ozias Riley, A. P. Cunning-
ham, J. B. Harris, Edward Bailey, Solon Philbrick, C.
J. Sabin, W. S. Maxwell, L. W. Faulkner, J. W. Mulli-
ken, Judge C. B. Smith, W. P. Lockwood, W. A. Heath,
Geo. F. Beardsley, Hon. Abel Harwood, W. H. Munhall,
A. W. Spalding, and C. M. Sherfey.
President Harrison said :
My Good Friends— It is very evident that there is a large repre-
sentation here of the Greek societies. [Cheers. ] I thank you for
this greeting. We are on our way to Galesburg to unite with my
old comrades in arms of the First Brigade, Third Division, Twen-
tieth Army Corps, in a reunion. I had not expected here, or at
any other intermediate point on the journey, to make addresses,
but I cannot fail to thank these young gentlemen from the Uni-
versity of Illinois for the interest their presence gives to this meet-
ing. Your professors, no doubt, give you all needed admonition
and advice, and you will, I am sure, thank me for not adding to
your burdens. Good -night. [Cheers.]
13
HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
PEORIA, ILLINOIS, OCTOBER 8.
THE third day of the President's journey found him in
Peoria, where he was warmly welcomed by Mayor Charles
C. Clarke at the head of the following committee of prom-
inent citizens : Alexander G. Tyng, Jr. , President Board of
Trade; John D. Soules, President Travelling Men's Asso-
ciation ; editor Eugene Baldwin, and Hon. Julius S. Starr.
Miss Elsie Leslie Lyde, the child actress, on behalf of the
citizens and the Grand Army, presented the President with
a beautiful bouquet, which the Chief Magistrate acknowl-
edged by kissing the little orator in the presence of the
great assemblage.
Mayor Clarke introduced the President, who spoke as
follows :
My Fellow- citizens— It is not possible that I should introduce this
morning any serious theme. I have greatly enjoyed this trip
through my own State and yours, sisters in loyalty and sacrifice for
the Union, sisters also in prosperity and honor. I find myself
simply saying thank you, but with an increasing sense of the kind-
ness of the people. If anything could add to the solemn sense of
responsibility which my official oath places upon me, it would be
these evidences of friendliness and confidence. The great mass of
the people of this country are loyal, loving, dutiful citizens, ready
to support every faithful officer in the discharge of his duties and
to applaud every honest effort for their good. It is a source of
great strength to know this, and this morning, not less from this
bright sunshine and this crisp Illinois air than from these kindly
faces, I draw an inspiration to do what I can, the very best I can,
to promote the good of the people of the United States. I go to-
day to meet with some comrades of your State who stood with me
in the army of the great Union for the defence of the flag. I beg
now to thank these comrades of Peoria and this company of Na-
tional Guards and all these friends, and you, Mr. Mayor and gentle-
men of the Reception Committee, for this kindly greeting, and to
say that I have great satisfaction in knowing the people of this
community are very prosperous. May that prosperity increase
until every citizen, even the humblest, shares it. May peace, social
order, and the blessing of God abide in every house is my parting
wish for you. [Cheers ]
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 243
GALESBURG, ILLINOIS, OCTOBER 8.
The Public Reception.
DURING the trip from Peoria the President and Secretary
Tracy rode a goodly portion of the distance on the locomo-
tive with Engineer Frank Hilton, a veteran who served
in the President's old command. Galesburg, the princi-
pal objective point of the journey, was reached at noon on
October 8, where 10,000 patriotic citizens greeted their ar-
rival. Mayor Loren Stevens, at the head of the following
committee, received and welcomed the President : Forrest
F. Cooke, President of the Day, Judge A. A. Smith, Hon.
H. M. Sisson, Hon. O. F. Price, Maj. H. H. Clay, Z. Beatty,
Henry Emerich, James M. Ayres, Francis A. Free, Gersh
Martin, F. C. Rice, C. D. Hendryx, Gen. F. C. Smith, John
Bassett, R. W. Sweeney, Sam'l D. Harsh, Colonel Phelps,
Hon. Philip S. Post, Rev. John Hood, Rev. G. J. Luckey,
H. A. Drake, Matthias O'Brien, K. Johnson, C. P. Curtis,
H. C. Miles, Capt. E. O. Atchinson, and Mr. Weeks. Fully
2,000 veterans participated in the parade; also the local
militia, commanded by Captain Elder and Lieutenants
Ridgley and Tompkins ; Company D, Fifth Regiment, from
Quincy, Capt. F. B. Nichols, Lieutenants Treet and Whip-
pie; Company H, Sixth Regiment, Monmouth, Capt. D.
E. Clarke, Lieutenants Shields and Turnbull ; Company
I, Sixth Regiment, Morrison, Capt. W. F. Colebaugh,
Lieutenants Griffin and Baker.
Arriving at the Court-House Park, Mayor Stevens de-
livered the address of welcome. President Harrison re-
sponded as follows :
Mr. Mayor and Felloiv- citizens — The magnitude of this vast as-
semblage to-day fills me with surprise and with consternation as
I am called to make this speech to you. I came here to meet with
the survivors of my old brigade. I came here with the expectation
that the day would chiefly be spent in their companionship and
in the exchange of those cordial greetings which express the fond-
ness and love which we bear to each other ; but to my surprise I
244 HARRISOS'S SPEECHES.
have found that here to-day the First Brigade, for the first time
in its history, has been captured. One or two of them I have been
able to take by the hand, a few more of them I have seen as they
marched by the reviewing stand, but they seemed to have been
swallowed up in this vast concourse of their associate comrades
and their fellow- citizens of Illinois. I hope there may yet be a
time during the day when I shall be able to take each by the hand,
and to assure them that in the years of separation since muster-
out day I have borne them all sacredly in my affectionate remem-
brance. They were a body of representative soldiers, coming from
these great central States of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, and as
the borders of those States touch in friendly exchange, so the
elbows of these great heroes and patriots touched in the great
struggle for the Union. Who shall say who was chiefest? "Who
shall assign honors where all were brave? The distinction that
Illinois may claim in connection with this organization is that,
given equal courage, fidelity, and loyalty to every man, Illinois
furnished three -fifths of the brigade. But possibly I should with-
hold here those suggestions which come to me, and which will be
more appropriate when I meet them in a separate organization.
I have been greatly impressed with this assemblage to-day in this
beautiful city, in this rich and prosperous State. The thought had
occurred to me, and the more I thought of it the more sure I was
of the conclusion, that nowhere on the face of the earth except in
the United States of America, under no flag that kisses any breeze,
could such an assemblage as this have been gathered. Who are
these? Look into these faces ; see the evidences of contentment,
thrift, prosperity, and intelligence that wt> read in all these faces.
They have come by general summons from all these homes, of
village, city, and farm, and here they are to day the strength and
rock of our security as a Nation ; the people who furnished an
invincible army when its flag was in danger; the people upon
whose enlightened consciences and God-fearing hearts this country
may rest with unguarded hope. Where is the ultimate distribution
of governmental powers? How can all the efforts of President,
cabinet and judges, and armies, even, serve to maintain this
country, to continue it in its great career of prosperity, if there
were lacking this great law-abiding, liberty-loving people by whom
they are chosen to these important offices? It is the great thought
of our country that men shall be governed as little as possible, but
full liberty shall be given to individual effort, and that the re-
straints of law shall be reserved for the turbulent and disorderly.
What is it that makes our communities peaceful? What is it that
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 245
makes these farm-houses safe? It is not the policemen. It is not
the soldiers. It is this great and all-pervading American senti-
ment that exalts the la\v, that stands with threatening warning to
the law-breaker, and, above all, that pervading thought that gives
to every man what is his and claims only what is our own. The
war was only fought that the law might not lose its sanction and
its sanctity. If we had suffered that loss, dismemberment would
have been a lesser one. But we taught those who resisted law and
taught the world that the great sentiment of Io3ralty to our written
laws was so strong in this country that no associations, combina-
tions, or conspiracies could overturn it. Our Government will
not fail to go on in this increased career of development, in pop-
ulation; in wealth, in intelligence, in morality, so long as we hold
up everywhere in the local communities and in the Nation this
great thought that eveiy man shall keep the law which secures
him in his own rights, and shall not trample upon the rights of
another. Let us divide upon tariff and finance, but let there never
be a division among the American people upon this question, that
nowhere shall the law be overturned in the interests of anybody.
If it fails of beneficent purpose, which should be the object of all
law, then let us modify it, but while it is a law let us insist that
it shall be obeyed. When we turn from that and allow any other
standard of living to be set up, where is your security, where is
mine, when some one else makes convenience more sacred, more
powerful than the law of the land?
I believe to-day that the great rock of our security is this deeply
imbedded thought in the American heart that does not, as in many
of our Spanish- American countries, give its devotion to the man,
but to the law, the Constitution, and to the flag. So that in that
hour of gloom, when that richest contribution of all gems that
Illinois has ever set in our Nation's diadem, Abraham Lincoln,
and in that hour of the consummation of his work, dies by the
hand of the assassin, Garfield, who was to meet a like fate, might
say to the trembling and dismayed people • " Lincoln is dead, but
the Government at Washington still lives."
My fellow-citizen?!, to all those who, through your Mayor, have
extended me their greeting, to all who are here assembled, I return
my most sincere thanks. I do not look upon such assemblages
without profound emotion. They touch me, and I believe they
teach me, and I am sure that the lessons are wholesome lessons
We have had here to-day this procession of veterans, aged and
feeble many of them. That is retrospective. That is part of tho
great story of the past, written in glorious letters on the firmament
24C HARRISONS SPEECHES.
that is spread above the world. Arid in these sweet children who
have followed we read the future. How sweet it was to see them
bearing in their infant hands these same banners that those vet-
erans carried amid the shot and battle and dying of men ! I had
occasion at the centennial celebration of the inauguration of Wash-
ington in New York, being impressed by the great display of
national colors, to make a suggestion that the flag should be taken
into the schoolhouses, and I ani glad to know that in that State
there is daily a little drill of the children that pays honor to the
flag. But, my friends, the Constitution provides that I shall
annually give information to Congress of the state of the Union
and make such recommendations as I may think wise, and it has
generally been understood, I think, that this affirmative provision
contains a negative and implies that the President is to give no
one except Congress any information as to the state of the Union,
and that he shall especially make no suggestions that can be m
any shape misconstrued.
I confess that it would give me great pleasure, if the occasion
were proper, to give you some information as to the state of the
Union as I see it, and to make some suggestions as to what I think
would be wise as affecting the state of the Union. But I would
not on an occasion like this, when I am greeted here by friends,
fellows-citizens of all shades of thought in politics and in the
Church, say a word that could mar the harmony of this great occa-
sion. I trust we are all met here together to-day as loyal-loving
American citizens, and that over all our divisions and differences
there is this great arch of love and loyalty binding us together.
And now you will excuse me from further speech when I have
said again that I am profoundly grateful to the people of Galesburg
and this vicinity, and to these, my comrades in arms, who have
so warmly opened their arms to welcome me to-day. [Cheers.]
Reunion First Brigade, Third Division, Twentieth Army Corps.
In the afternoon General Harrison attended the reunion
of the First Brigade Association, of wliich he is President.
This brigade was the General's command in the late war,
and comprised the Seventieth Indiana Regiment, Seventy-
ninth Ohio, One Hundred and Second, One Hundred
and Fifth, and One Hundred and Twenty-ninth Illinois.
Many veterans were present from these regiments. Among
the prominent participants were : Generals Daniel Dust-in
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 247
and E. F. Button, Sycamore, 111. ; Gen. F. C. Smith, Gales-
burg; Gen. A. W. Doane, Wilmington, Ohio; General
Miles, Col. H. C. Corbin, H. H. Carr, N. E. Gray, Dr. P.
L. McKinnie, and Colonel Sexton, Chicago ; H. H. Mc-
Dowell, Pontiac-; Capt. Edward L. Patterson, Cleveland ;
Capt. F. E. Scott, Brokenbow, Neb. ; Capt. J. T. Merritt,
Aledo; Major M. G. McLain, Indianapolis; Capt. J. E.
Huston, Clearfield, Iowa ; James M. Ayers, R. M. Smock,
Colonel Mannon, Major Jack Burst, Wm. Eddleman, C. I).
Braidemeyer, Capt. T. U. Scott, Capt. T. S. Rogers, C. P.
Curtis, Captain Bodkins, and others. Congressman Thos.
J. Henderson and many of the above-mentioned officers
made brief speeches during the reunion. General Dust-in
occupied the chair pending the election of officers for the
ensuing year. General Harrison's re-election as President
of the Association was carried amid cheers, and as he
appeared to assume the presiding chair the veterans gave
him a rousing reception.
The President then addressed the brigade as follows :
Comrades — The object of my visit to Galesburg was this meeting
which we are to have now. I should not, I think, have been per-
suaded to make this trip except for the pleasure which I expected
to find in meeting the men of the old brigade, from most of whom
I have "been separated since the muster-out day. We have had a
great demonstration, one very full of interest, on the streets and
in the park, but I think we are drawn a little closer in this meet-
ing and understand each other a little better than in the larger
assemblages of which we have made a part. It is very pleasant
for me to see so many here. I cannot recall the names of all of
you. Time has wrought its changes upon the faces of us all.
You recognize me because there were not so many colonels as there
were soldiers — fortunately, perhaps, for the country. [Laughter.]
I saw you as individuals in the brigade line when it was drawn
up either for parade or battle. It is quite natural, therefore, and
I trust it will not be held against me, that you should have a better
recollection of my features than I can possibly have of yours.
And yet some of you I recall and all of you I love. [Applause. ]
When you were associated in a brigade in 1862 we were all some-
what new to military duties and life. The officers as well as the
248 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
men had come together animated by a common purpose from every
pursuit in life. We were not so early in the field as some of our
comrades. We yield them the honor of longer service, but I think
we may claim for ourselves that when our hands were lifted to
take the enlistment oath there was no inducement for any man to
go into the army under any expectation that he was entering on a
holiday. In the early days of the war men thought or hoped it
would be brief. They did not measure its extent or duration.
They did not at all rightly estimate the awful sacrifices that were
to be made before peace with honor was assured.
I well remember an incident of the early days of volunteering at
Indianapolis, when the first companies in response to the first call
of President Lincoln came hurrying to the capital Among the
first to arrive was one from Lafayette, under the command of
Capt. Chris. Miller. They came in tumultuously and enthusiastic
for the fight. These companies were organized into regiments,
which one by one were sent into West Virginia or other fields of ser-
vice. It happened that the regiment to which my friend Miller was
assigned was the last to leave the State. I met him one day on
the street, and a more mad and despondent soldier I never saw.
He was not absolutely choice in the use of his language — all soldiers
were not. I think the First Brigade was an exception. [Laughter.]
He was swearing like a pirate over the disgrace that had befallen
him and his associates, growing out of the fact that he was abso-
lutely certain that the war would be over before they got into the
field, and left in camp a stranded regiment, having no part in
putting down the rebellion.
Well, his day came presently, and he was ordered to West Vir-
ginia, and among the first of those who, under the fire of the enemy
at Rich Mountain, received a bullet through his body was Capt.
Chris. Miller. When these regiments of ours were enlisted we
were not apprehensive that the war would be over before we had
an adequate share of it. We were pretty certain we would all
have enough before we were through. The clouds were dark in
those days of '62. McClellan was shut up in the Peninsula ; Buel)
was coming back from Alabama ; Kirby Smith was entering
through Cumberland Gap, and everything seemed to be discourag-
ing. I think I may claim for these men of Illinois, and these men
of Indiana and of Ohio — if some of them are here to meet with us
to-day — that w^hen they enlisted there was no other motive than
pure, downright patriotism, and there was no misunderstanding of
the serious import of the work on which they entered. [Applause.]
Those early days in which we were being transformed from ci-
HARRISONS SPEECHES. 249
vilians into soldiers were full of trial and hardship. The officers
were sometimes bumptious and unduly severe— 1 am entering a
plea in my own behalf iio\v. [Laughter.] The soldiers had not
yet got to understand why a camp guard should be established,
why they should not be at perfect liberty to go to town as they
were when on the farm and the day's work was over. It was sup-
posed that an army was composed of so many men, but we had
not learned at that time that it was absolutely necessary that all
those men should be at the same place at the same time, and that
they could not be scattered over the neighborhood. There were a
good may trials of that sort while the men were being made soldiers
and the officers were learning their duties, and to know the proper
margin between the due liberty of the individual and the necessary
restraint of discipline. But those days were passed soon, and they
passed the sooner when the men went into active duties. Camp
duties were always irksome and troublesome, but when they were
changed for the active duties of the march and field there was less
need of restraint.
I always noticed there was no great need of a camp guard after
the boys had marched twenty-five miles. They did not need so
much watching at night. Then the serious time came when sick-
ness devastated us and disease swept its dread swath, and that
dreadful progress of making soldiers was passed through when dis-
eases which should have characterized childhood prostrated and
destroyed men. Then there came out of all this, after the sifting
out of those who were weak and incapable, of those who could not
stand this acclimating process, that body of tough, strong men,
ready for the march and fight, that made up the great armies
which under Grant and Sherman and Sheridan carried the flag to
triumph.
The survivors of some of them are here to-day, and whatever else
has come to us in life, whether honor or disappointment, I do not
think there are any of us — not me, I am sure — who would to-day
exchange the satisfaction, the heart comfort we have in having
been a part of the great army that subdued the rebellion, that
saved the country, the Constitution, and the flag. [Applause. ] If
I were asked to exchange it for any honor that has come to me, I
would lay down any civil office rather than surrender the satisfac-
tion I have in having been an humble partaker with you in that
great war. [Applause.] Who shall measure it? Well, generations
hence, when this country, which had 30,000,000, now 64,000,000,
has become 100,000,000, when these institutions of ours grow and
develop and spread, and homes in which happiness and comfort
250 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
have their abiding- place, then we may begin to realize, North
and South, what this work was. We but imperfectly see it now,
yet we have seen enough of the glory of the Lord to fill our souls
full of a quiet enthusiasm. [Applause.]
Here we are pursuing our different works in life to-day just as
when we stood on picket or on guard, just as in the front rank of
battle facing the foe — trying to do our part for the country. I
hope there is not a soldier here in whom the love of the flag has
died out. I believe there is not one in whose heart it is not a
growing passion. I think a great deal of the interest of the flag
we see among the children is because you have taught them what
the flag means. No one knows how beautiful it is when we see it
displayed here on this quiet October day, amid these quiet autum-
nal scenes, who has not seen it when there was no other beautiful
thing to look upon. [Applause.] And in those long, tiresome
marches, in those hours of smoke and battle and darkness, what
was there that was beautiful except the starry banner that floated
over us? [Applause.]
Our country has grown and developed and increased in riches
until it is to-day marvellous among the nations of the earth,
sweeping from sea to sea, embracing almost every climate, touch-
ing the tropics and the arctic, covering every form of product of
the soil, developing in skill in the mechanical arts, developing, I
trust and believe, not only in these material things which are
great, but not the greatest, but developing also in those qualities
of mind and heart, in morality, in the love of order, in sobrietjr,
in respect for the law, in a God-fearing disposition among the
people, in love for our country, in all these high and spiritual
things. I believe the soldiers in their places have made a large
contribution to all these things.
The assembling of our great army was hardly so marvellous as
its disbanding. In the olden time it was expected that a soldier
would be a brawler when the campaign was over. He was too
often a disturber. Those habits of violence which he had learned
in the field followed him to his home. But how different it was
in this war of ours. The army sprang into life as if by magic, on
the call of the martyred President — Illinois' greatest gift, as I have
said, to the Nation. They fought through the war, and they came
out of it without demoralization. They returned to the very pur-
suits from which they had come. It seemed to one that it was like
the wrapping of snow which nature sometimes puts over the earth
in the winter season to protect and keep warm the vegetation
which is hidden under it, and which under the warm days of
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 251
spring melts and disappears, and settles into the earth to clothe it
with verdure and beauty and harvest. [Great cheering.]
Alumni Hall, Knox College.
After the public reception was concluded the President
and party participated in the laying of the corner-stone of
the Alumni Hall on the campus of Knox College. Dr.
Newton Batemaii, president of the college, conducted the
exercises. Prof. Milton L. Comstock read a brief history
of Knox College, at the conclusion of which Dr. Adams
introduced President Harrison, who spoke as follows :
My Fellow-citizens — Speaking this morning in the open air,
which since my official isolation from, campaigning has made my
voice unaccustomed to it, will make it impossible for me to speak
further at this time. I do not deem this ceremony at all out of
accord with the patriotic impulses which have stirred our hearts
to-day. Education was early in the thought of the framers of our
Constitution as one of the best, if not the only guarantee of their per-
petuation. Washington, as well as the founders of the venerable
and useful institution, appreciated and expressed his interest in
the establishment of institutions of learning. How shall one be a
safe citizen when citizens are rulers who are not intelligent? How
shall he understand those great questions which his suffrage must
adjudge without thorough intellectual culture in his youth ? We are
here, then, to-day engaged in a patriotic work as we lay this
corner-stone of an institution that has had a great career of use-
fulness in the past and is now entering upon a field of enlarged
usefulness. We lay this corner-stone and rededicate this institu-
tion to truth, purity, loyalty, and a love of God.
Phi Delta Tlieta Banquet.
In the evening the President attended a banquet tendered
him by Lombard and Knox chapters of Phi Delta Theta,
of which college fraternity General Harrison was a mem-
ber in his student days. At the President's table sat
Toastmaster Lester L. Silliman, of Lombard Chapter, with
General Miles, Generals Grosvenor, Morgan, and Post,
Mayor Stevens, Dr. Ayres, and Rev. Dr. Hood. Brother
Geo. W. Prince delivered the welcoming address on behalf
252 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
of the local chapters, to which the distinguished Phi broth-
er, President Harrison, arising amid great applause, re-
sponded. After a few pleasant remarks regarding his
recollections of college life and his pleasure at meeting
again with the members of the Phi Delta Theta, he said :
My college associations were broken early in life, partly by ne-
cessity and partly by choice ; by necessity so far as the compulsion
to work for a living was upon me, and by choice in that I added to
my responsibility at an early date, so that it has not been my
pleasure often to meet with or sit about the banquet board with
members of this society. It gives me pleasure to meet with you
to-night. I feel the greatest sympathy with these young men who
are now disciplining their minds for the work of life. I would not
have them make these days too serious, and yet they are very full
of portent and promise. It is not inconsistent, I think, writh the
joyfulness and gladness which pertains to youth that they shall have
some sense of the value of these golden days. They are days that
are to affect the wrhole future. If I were to select a watchword
that I would have every young man write above his door and on
his heart, it would be that good word "Fidelity " I know of no
better. The man who meets every obligation to the family, to
society, to the State, to his country, and his God, to the very best
measure of his strength and ability, cannot fail of that assurance
and quietness that comes of a good conscience, and w^ill seldom fail
of the approval of his fellow-men, and will never fail of the reward
which is promised to faithfulness. Unfaithfulness and lack of
fidelity to duty, to work, and to obligation is the open door to all
that is disgraceful and degrading.
I want to thank you again, gentlemen, for this pleasant greeting,
and to ask you, after the rather exhaustive duties of this day, to
excuse me from further address and accept the best wishes of a
brother in the Phi Delta Theta organization. [Cheers. ]
TJie Brigade Banquet.
Later in the evening the President and party attended a
banquet given by the citizens in honor of the First Brigade.
It was a brilliant affair, conducted by the ladies of the
city, active among whom were Mrs. Geo. Lescher, Miss
Tillie Weeks, Miss Maude Stewart, Miss Winnie Hoover,
and Mrs. Whiffen. Mrs. George Gale had charge of tho
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 253
table of honor, assisted by Mrs. Otto M. Smith and Miss
Louise Try on. Gen. Philip S. Post was Master of Cere-
monies and presented General Harrison.
The President prologued his parting words with an in-
cident of a visit he made to a small town down the Poto-
mac. Although he was introduced as President all over
the town, no special attention was paid to him, and when
the local paper came out with a column and a half report
of the visit of the Chief Executive, the good people of the
town were astonished, but explained their lack of attention
by saying they thought Mr. Harrison was president of some
fishing club. Aside from jokes, said the President :
One serious word in leaving. This day in Galesburg I shall long
remember. The enthusiasm and the cordiality of the citizens, the
delicacy and kindness of their attention, have impressed me deeply.
I shall ever gratefully recollect Galesburg as a spot of especial
interest, as the place of the meeting of the old brigade. Comrades,
I hope to meet you again when my time is more my own, and on
several occasions like this to speak to you more familiarly, and to
recall this time. I have tried not to be stinted in my intercourse
with you, for I have wanted you to feel me warm and sincere. I
have expressed myself, but not as freely as I would if by ourselves,
or if I were but a private citizen or member of the brigade. But
I would say to you and all your families, to the wives that sit
here, to the wives and children that are at home, to those who
have gone out from your roof -tree to prepare homes, to your grand-
children— and I hope all of you have them — to one and all, I
extend the hearty sympathy and best wishes of the " old-timer"
you served so faithfully.
OTTUMWA, IOWA, OCTOBER 9.
THE President's party left Galesburg the night of the
8th, arriving at Burlington at 10 o'clock, where about
8,000 people greeted them. The President was escorted to
the Commercial Club rooms, where Mayor Duncan, on
behalf of the city of Burlington, and P. M. Crapo, president
of the club, made addresses of welcome. A reception of
254 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
one hour's duration followed, during which President
Harrison shook hands with 3,000 callers. Ottumwa was
reached at 8 o'clock Thursday morning. A committee of
citizens, headed by Hon. J. G. Hutchison, met the Presi-
dent at Galesburg. On arrival the President and his
brother, John Scott Harrison, were immediately driven to
the residence of their sister, Mrs. T. J. Devin, where they
passed the morning.
At the Coal Palace the President and Secretary Tracy
were met by Gov. Horace Boies and his staff, headed by
Adjt.-Gen Greene; also Senator Wm. B. Allison, Sena-
tor James F. Wilson, ex-Senator Harlan, Hon. John F.
Lacey, and the f oh1 owing Committee of Reception, repre-
senting the city of Ottumwa : T. J. Devin, W. T. Harper, J.
E. Hawkins, W. B. Smith, Henry Phillips, Sam'l A. Fla-
ger, J. C. Manchester, A. W.Johnson, W. T. Fenton, J. G.
Meek, Calvin Manning, Geo. Withall, J. W. Garner, J. J.
Smith, W. W. Epps, H. B. Hendershott, J. H. Merrill, W.
B. Bonnifield, A. H. Hamilton, C. F. Blake, John C.
Fisher, Hon. John N". Irwin, J. T. Hackworth, W. C.
Wyman, John C. Jordan, A. G. Harrow, Allen Johnston,
T. D. Foster, J. W. Edgerly, A. W. Lee, William Daggett,
G. H. Sheffer, W. D. Elliott, Charles Bachman, H. A.
Zangs, R. H. Moore, Capt. S. B. Evans, Capt. S. H. Harper,
H. W. Merrill, J. R. Burgess, J. B. Mowrey, A. C. Leigh-
ton, W. S. Cripps, R. L. Tilton, Dr. L. J. Baker, D. A.
Emery, Samuel Mahon, W. S. Coen, O. C. Graves, Thomas
Swords, and John F. Henry. Other cities in Iowa were
represented on the Reception Committee by the following
prominent citizens : Hon. John Craig, of Keokuk ; Judge
Traverse and Senator Taylor, of Bloomfield ; Gen. W. W.
Wright and Gen. F. M. Drake, Centerville; Gen. B. M.Mc-
Fall, Oskaloosa; T. B. Perry and J. H. Drake, Albia; Geo.
D. Woodin and Hon. F. E. White, Sigourney; Hon. Chas.
D. Leggett and Chas. D. Fallen, Fairfield ; Hon. Edwin
Manning and Capt. W. A. Duckworth, Keosauqua ; F. R.
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 255
Crocker and E. A. Temple, Chariton ; O. P. Wright, Knox-
ville; E. B. Woodruff, Marion Co. ; Col. Al. Swalm, Oska-
loosa; Hon. W. P. Smith, Hon. Josiah Given, Hon. Fred
Lehman, G. W. Wright, Des Moines ; Hon. John H. Gear,
Hon. John J. Seely, Burlington; Hon. F. C. Hormel, Capt.
M. P. Mills, Cedar Rapids; Hon. Geo. H. Spahr, Hon. W.
I. Babb, Mt. Pleasant; Hon. J. B. Grinnell, of Grinnell; Dr.
Eiigle, Newton ; Frank Letts and J. S. McFarland, Mar-
shalltown; Hon. J. B. Harsh and M. A. Robb, Crestoii;
ex-Governor Kirkwood and Ezekiel Clark, Iowa City.
The President and Governor Boies reviewed the parade
from a stand in the park. The column was led by the
veterans of the famous Third Iowa Cavalry. Three thou-
sand school children participated in the demonstration,
which was witnessed by fully 40, 000 spectators. The public
reception took place in the afternoon at the Coal Palace ;
the great building was overflowing. Hon. P. G. Ballin-
gall, President of the Coal Palace Exposition, introduced
Governor Boies, who welcomed the President in behalf of
the people of Iowa.
President Harrison responded as follows :
Governor Boies and Fellow -citizens — I accept in the same cordial
and friendly spirit in which they have been offered these words of
welcome spoken on behalf of the good people of the great State of
Iowa. It gives me pleasure in this hasty journey to pause for a
little time in the city of Ottumwa, I have had especial pleasure
in looking upon this structure and the exhibits which it contains.
It is itself a proof of the enterprise, skill, and artistic taste of the
people of this city of which they may justly be very proud. I look
about it and see that its adornment has been wrought with ma-
terials that are familiar and common, and that these have as-
sumed, under the deft fingers and artistic thoughts of your people,
shapes of beauty that are marvellously attractive. If I should
attempt to interpret the lesson of this structure, I should say it
was an illustration of how much that is artistic and graceful is
to be found in the common things of life ; and if I should make
an application of the lesson, it would be to suggest that we might
profitably carry into all our homes and into all neighborly inter-
course the same transforming spirit. The common things of this
256 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
life, touched by a loving spirit, may be made to glow and glisten.
The common intercourse of life, touched by friendliness and love,
may be made to fill every home and neighborhood with a bright-
ness that jewels cannot shed. And it is pleasant to think that in
our American home-life we have reached this ideal in a degree
unexcelled elsewhere.
I believe that in the American home, whether in the city or on
the farm, the American father and the American mother, in their
relations to the children, are kinder, more helpful, and benignant
than any others. [Cries of "Good! Good!" and cheers.] In these
homes is the strength of our institutions. Let these be corrupted
and the Government itself has lost the stone of strength upon which
it securely rests.
(Here, by some accident of arrangement, the water of
an artificial waterfall immediately behind the President
was turned on, and the rush and roar of the water drowned
his voice almost completely.)
I have contended with a brass band while attempting to address
a popular audience, but I have never before been asked to speak in
the rush and roar of Niagara. [Laughter and cheers. ] I think if
I were to leave it to this audience whether they would rather see
that beautiful display and hear the rippling of these waters [point-
ing] than to hear me, they would vote for the waterfall. [Cries
of "No, no!" and "Shut off the water!"]
(At this point the management succeeded in finally turn-
ing off the water so that the deafening noise ceased.)
I had supposed that there were limitations upon the freedom of
this meeting this afternoon, both as to the Governor and myself,
ar.d that no political suggestion of any sort was to be introduced
into this friendly concourse of American citizens ; and I think both
of us have good cause for grievances against the prohibitionists for
interrupting us with this argument for cold water. [Great laugh-
ter and applause. ]
It is quite difficult, called upon as I am every day, and sometimes
three or four times a day, to make short addresses with the limita-
tions that are upon me as to the subjects upon which I may speak,
to know what to say when I meet my fellow-citizens. I was glad
to hear the Governor say that Iowa is prosperous. We have here a
witness that it is so. It offers also, I think, a solution of the origin
of that prosperity, and suggests how it may be increased and
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 257
developed. We have in this structure a display of all the products
of the farm, and side by side with it a display of the mechanic
arts. I think in this combination, in this diversity of interest
and pursuit, in this mutual and helpful relation between the toilers
of the soil and the workers in our shops, each contributing to the
commonwealth and each giving to the other that which he needs,
we have that which has brought about the prosperity you now
enjoy, and which is to increase* under the labors of your children
to a degree that we have not realized. The progress in the me-
chanical arts that men not older than I have witnessed, the appli-
cation of new agencies to the use of men within the years of my
own notice and recollection, read like a fairy tale. Let us not
think that we have reached the limits of this development. There
are yet uses of the agencies already known to be developed and
applied. There are yet agencies perhaps in the great storehouse of
nature that have not been harnessed for the use of man. The tele-
graph, the telephone, and the phonograph have all come within
the memory of many who stand about me to-day. The application
of steam to ocean travel is within the memory of many here. The
development of our railroad system has all come within your
memory and mine. The railroad was but a feeble agency in com-
merce when my early recollection begins ; and now this great State
is covered with railroads like a network. Every farm is within
easy reach of a shipping station, and every man can speak to his
neighbor any day of the week, though that neighbor live on the
opposite side of the globe. Out of all this what is yet to come?
Who can tell? You are favored here in having not only a surface
soil that yields richly to the labor of the farmer, but in also having
hidden beneath that surface rich mines of coal which are to be
converted into power to propel the mills that will supply the wants
of your people.
Now, my friends, thanking you for the kindness with which you
have listened to me, expressing again my appreciation of the taste
and beauty of this great structure in which we stand, and wishing
for Iowa and all its citizens the largest increase of prosperity in
material wealth, the most secure social order in all their commu-
nities, and the crowning blessing of home happiness, I bid you
good-by. [Prolonged cheering.]
17
258 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
ST. JOSEPH, MISSOURI, OCTOBER 10.
THE first reception in the State of Missouri took place at
St. Joseph at 6 :30 the morning of October 10. Many thou-
sands greeted the President at the Union Depot. Conspic-
uous in the assemblage were the veterans of Ouster Post,
G. A. R., who escorted the party to the neighboring hotel.
The Committee of Reception consisted of Col. A. 0. Dawes,
Chairman; Mayor Wm. Shepard, Hon. John L. Bittinger,
Capt Chas. F. Ernst, Capt. F. M. Posegate, Col. N. P. Og-
den, August Nunning, Wm. M. Wyeth, Major T. J. Chew,
Hon. Geo. J. Englehart, Hon. O. M. Spencer, Dr. J. D.
Smith, James McCord, ex-Gov. Silas Woodson, John M.
Frazier, Frank M. Atkinson, Rev. H. L. Foote, and Major
Joseph Hansen.
Colonel Dawes made a brief welcoming address and
presented the President, who spoke as follows :
l\ly Fellow-citizens — If you are glad to see me at this hour in the
morning, if you are so kind and demonstrative before breakfast,
how great would have been your welcome if I had come a little
later in the day? [Applause.]
I beg to thank you, who at an inconvenient and early hour,
have turned out to speak these words of welcome to us as we pass
through your beautiful city. Many years ago I read of St. Joseph.
I know something of its history, when, instead of being a large
city, it was a place for outfitting those slow and toilsome trains
that bore the early pioneers toward California and the far West.
Those days are not to be forgotten. Those means of communica-
tion were slow, but they bore men and women, full of courage and
patriotism, to do for us on the Pacific and in the great West the
work of peaceful conquest that has added greatly to the glory and
prosperity of our country. And yet we congratulate ourselves that
the swifter means of communication have taken the place of the
old ; we congratulate ourselves that these conveniences, both of
business and social life, have come to crown our day. And yet
in the midst of them, enjoying the luxuries which modern civ-
ilization brings to our doors, let us not lose from our house-
holds those plain and sturdy virtues which are essential to true
American citizenship ; let us remember always that above all
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 250
surroundings, above all that is external, there is to be prized
those solid and essential virtues that make home happy and that
make our country great, and that enable us in every time of trial
and necessity to call out from among the people some who are
fit to lead our armies or to meet every emergency in the history
of the State. We are here as American citizens, not as partisans ;
\ve are here as comrades of the late war, or, if there are here those
who under the other banner fought for what seemed to them to be
right, we are here to say one and all that God knew what was best
for this country when he cast the issue in favor of the Uniofc and
the Constitution. [Applause and cheers. ]
Now, again united under its ample guarantee of personal liberty
and public security, united again under one flag, we have started
forward, if" we are true to our obligations, upon a career of pros-
perity that wrould not otherwise have been possible. Let us there-
fore, in all kindliness and faithfulness, in devotion to the right,
as God shall give us light to see it, go forward in the discharge of
our duties, setting above everything else the flag and the Constitu-
tion on which all our rights and securities are based. Now, my
comrades of the Grand Army of the Republic and fellow-citizens-
of Missouri, again I thank you and bid you good-. by. [Cheers.]
ATCHISON, KANSAS, OCTOBER 10.
ENTERING Kansas the President was the recipient of a
unique welcome at Atchison, where 1,000 school children
and several thousand citizens greeted him. Little Edna
Elizabeth Downs was the orator on behalf of the children,
and delivered a beautiful address, at the conclusion of
which the children showered the President with flowers.
The Mayor of Atchison, Hon. B. P. Waggener, and the
following prominent citizens welcomed the Chief Exec-
utive : Hon. John J. Ingalls, Hon. Edward K. Blair, Hon.
Clem Rohr, Hon. S. 0. King, Hon. S. H. Kelsey, Hon.
John C. Tomlinson, Hon. A. J. Harwi, Hon. Henry Elles-
ton, Hon. S. R. Stevenson, Hon. C. W. Benning, Judge
Rob't M. Eaton, ex-Gov. Geo. W. Glick, Hon. H. C. Sol-
omon, Judge A. G. Otis, Judge David Martin, L. C.
Challiss, E. W. Howe, David Auld, B. T. Davis, Chas.
2GO HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
E. Faulkner, Major W. H. Haskell, Major S. R Washer,
Capt. J. K. Fisher, Capt. David Baker, Capt. John Seaton,
Stanton Park, T. B. Gerow, and H. Claypark. Chief-
Justice Albert H. Horton made the welcoming address
and introduced President Harrison, who said :
My Fellow -citizens — I stand to-day for the first time upon the
soil of Kansas. I am glad to have been permitted to enter it by
the vestibule of this attractive city, the home of one of your
most* brilliant statesmen. I cannot refrain from saying, God be
thanked that freedom won its early battle in Kansas. [Applause. ]
All this would have been otherwise impossible. You have a soil
christened with the blood of men who died for liberty, and you
have well maintained the lessons they taught, living and dying.
It was appropriate that the survivors of the late war, men who
came home crowned with the consummating victory of liberty,
should make the State of Kansas pre-eminently the soldier State of
the Union. Now, after telling you that I am very grateful for
your friendly greeting this morning, you will, I am sure, excuse
me, in this tumult, from attempting further speech. May every
good attend you in your homes ; may the career of this great State
be one of unceasing prosperity in things material, and may your
citizenship never forget that the spiritual things that take hold of
liberty and human rights are higher and better than all material
things. [Prolonged cheering.] Allow me now to present to you
the only member of my Cabinet who accompanied me, General
Tracy, of New York, the Secretary of the Navy.
TOPEKA, KANSAS, OCTOBER 10.
THE President's reception at Topeka on Friday, October
10, was a remarkable ovation; over 50,000 people from
every county in the State greeted him. The famous
Seventh U. S. Cavalry, Gen. J. W. Forsythe commanding,
acted as the guard of honor. The President was welcomed
by Gov. Lyman U. Humphrey, Senator John J. Ingalls,
Chief -Justice Albert H. Horton, Mayor Eobert L. Cofran,
and the following distinguished committee: Ex-Gov.
Thomas A. Osborn, ex-Gov. Geo. T. Anthony, Capt. Geo.
R Peck, Col. James Burgess, Hon. S. B. Bradford, Judge
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 201
N. C. McFarland, Judge John Martin, A. J. Arnold, John
Guthrie, Wm. P. Douthitt, John Mileham, William Sims,
Cyrus K. Holliday, Perry G. Noel, S. T. Howe, Bernard
Kelly, J. Lee Knight, N. D. McGinley, Wm. H. Rossing-
ton, Rev. Dr. F. S. McCabe, Geo. W. Reed, Elihu Holcomb,
Lark Odin, L. J. Webb, Milo B. Ward, J. K. Hudson, F.
P. McLennan, H. O. Garvey, Frank Root, John M. Bloss,
John F. Gwinn, A. M. Fuller, J. W. F. Hughes, John R.
Peckham, James L. King, Henry Bennett, Geo. H. Evans,
M. C. Holman, John C. Gordon, H. P. Throop, Joseph R.
Hankland, T. W. Durham, Judge C. G. Foster, A. K.
Rodgers, A. B. Jetmore, and Thomas F. Oenes.
The parade was an imposing affair. Thirty thousand
veterans were in line. The Indiana contingent numbered
over 1,000, and as they passed the reviewing carriage, led
by Major George Noble, cheer after cheer was given in
honor of the distinguished Hoosier. Nearly 0,000 school
children participated in the parade. In the afternoon the
President visited the reunion grounds with Commander
Ira F. Collins and other officers of the Kansas Department,
G. A. R. Governor Humphrey delivered the welcoming
address.
The President responded as follows :
My Fellow -citizens — I am strongly tempted to omit even an at-
tempt to speak to you to-day ; I think it would be better that I
should go home and write you an open letter. [Great laughter
and cheering.] I have been most profoundly impressed with the
incidents which have attended this tremendous and, I am told,
unprecedented gathering of the soldiers and citizens of the great
State of Kansas. No one can interpret in speech the lessons of this
occasion. No power of description is adequate to convey to those
who have not looked upon it or into the spirit and power of this
meeting. This assembly is altogether too large to be greeted indi-
vidually— one cannot get his arms around it. [Laughter and
cheers. ] And yet so kindly have you received me that I would be
glad if to each of you I could convey the sense of gratitude and
appreciation which is in my heart. There is nothing for any of
us to do but to open wide our hearts and let these elevating sug-
262 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
gestions take possession of them. I am sure there has been nothing
here to-day that does not point in the direction of a higher indi-
vidual, social, State and national life. Who can look upon this
vast array of soldiers who fought to a victorious consummation
the war for the Union without bowing his head and his heart in
grateful reverence? [Great applause. ] Who can look upon these
sons of veterans, springing from a patriotic ancestry, full of the
spirit of '61, and coming into the vigor and strength of manhood
to take up the burdens that we must soon lay down, and who,
turning from these to the sweet -faced children whose hands are
filled with flowers and flags, can fail to feel those institutions of
liberty are secure for two generations at least? [Great cheering.]
I never knew until to-day the extent of the injury which the State
of Kansas had inflicted upon the State of Indiana [laughter and
cheers] — never until I had looked upon that long line of Indiana
soldiers that you plucked from us when the war was over by the
superior inducement which your fields and cities offered to their
ambitious toil. Indiana grieves for their loss, but rejoices in the
homes and prosperity they have found here. [Cheers. ] They are
our proud contribution to the great development which this State
has made. They are our proud contribution to that great national
reputation which your State, has established as the friend as well
as one of the bulwarks of liberty and law. [Cheers. ] It was not
unnatural that they, coming back from scenes where comrades had
shed their blood for liberty, should choose to find homes in a State
that had the baptism of martyrs' blood upon its infant brow.
[Prolonged cheering.] The future is safe if we are but true to
ourselves, true to these children whose instruction is committed to
us. There is no other foe that can at all obstruct or hinder our
onward progress except treason in our own midst — treachery to the
great fundamental principle of our Government, which is obedience
to the law. The law, the will of the majority expressed in orderly,
constitutional methods, is the only king to which we bow. But
to him all must bow. Let it be understood in all your communi-
ties that no selfish interest of the individual, no class interests,
however entrenched, shall be permitted to assert their convenience
against the law. This is good American doctrine, and if it can be
made to prevail in all the States of the Union until every man,
secure under the law in his own right, is compelled by the law to
yield to every other man his rights, nothing can shake our repose.
[Cheers. ]
Now, fellow-citizens, you will excuse me from the attempt at
further speech. I beg you again to believe that I am grateful, so
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 2C3
far as your presence here has any personal reference to myself —
grateful as a public officer for this evidence of your love and affec-
tion for the Constitution and the country which we all love.
[Great applause. ]
There is some grumbling in Kansas, and I think it is because
your advantages are too great. [Laughter. ] A single year of dis-
appointment in agricultural returns should not make you despair
of the future or tempt you to unsafe expedients. Life is made up
of averages, and 1 think yours will show a good average. Let us
look forward with hope, with courage, fidelity, thrift, patience,
good neighborly hearts, and a patriotic love for the flag. Kansas
and her people have an assured and happy future. [Prolonged
cheers. ]
NORTDNVILLE, KANSAS, OCTOBER 10.
AT Nortonville the citizens, and especially the school
children, turned out en masse and gave the President the
heartiest of welcomes. Among the prominent residents
who participated in the greeting were Hon. A. J. Perry, S.
P. Griffin, Thomas Eckles, C. C. McCarthy, Dr. D. T.
Brown, L.P.King, D.A.Ellsworth, O. U. Babcock, Dr.
R. D. Webb, J. G. Roberts, W. T. Eckles, Harry Ellison,
Rev. T. Hood, and M. Crowberger. On behalf of the school
children a little girl climbed the steps and presented the
Chief Magistrate with an armful of beautiful bouquets, for
which she received a hearty kiss.
Governor Humphrey introduced the President, who
spoke as follows :
My Fellow -citizens — This brief stop forbids that I should say any-
thing more than thank you and to extend to you all my most friendly
greeting. The sky is overcast, but in this assemblage of your
school children, with flags and flowers, and in this gathering of
the sturdy men who have made Kansas great among States, there
are suggestions that spread a sky of beauty and hope above our
country and its destiny. It gives me great pleasure to make this
first visit to Kansas. It gives me great pleasure to see both at
Atchison and here the interest which the presence of these children
shows you take in public education. There are many here who
264 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
in their early clays experienced the hardships and privations of
pioneer life. The avenues of learning were shut against them, but
it is much to their credit that what they lacked in early life, the
impediments which have burdened their careers, they have bravely
resolved shall not burden their children. I thank you again for
this pleasant reception, and I bid you good-by, as we proceed on
our journey.
VALLEY FALLS, KANSAS, OCTOBER 10.
AT Valley Falls, Kan . , another large crowd was assem-
bled. The President was welcomed by Mayor A. D. Ken-
dall, Dr. A. M. Cowan, E. H. Crosby, M. M. Maxwell, Dr.
Frank Swallow, Mrs. J. H. Murry, Miss L. M. Ring, and
other prominent residents. Mrs. Dr. Cowan, on behalf of
the ladies, presented General Harrison with a basket of
flowers.
In response to the enthusiastic greetings the President
said:
My Friends — I thank you sincerely for this cordial reception. I
will not attempt any speech further than to say that this greeting
puts me, if possible, under still stronger obligations in every official
duty that devolves upon me to consult the interests of the people
and do that which seems to be most promotive of public good.
[Cheers. ]
LAWRENCE, KANSAS, OCTOBER 10.
THE historic city of Lawrence was reached at 4:40
o'clock, where the cheers of an immense multitude, includ-
ing a battalion from Haskell Institute, welcomed the Pres-
ident. The Reception Committee consisted of Mayor A.
Henley, George Innis, W. H. Whitney, Gov. Chas. Robin-
son, Gen. J. N. Roberts, and E. F. Goodrich. The veterans
of Washington Post, G. A. R., Gen. H. S. Hall, Com-
mander, were present in a body.
Mayor Henley, in the name of the city, welcomed the
President, who, responding, said:
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 205
My Friends — I am sure you are kind, and tlie greatest kindness
you can do me is not to ask me to attempt to speak again so re-
cently after attempting at Topeka to talk to all the rest of the peo-
ple in Kansas [laughter] who are not here. I supposed until the
train pulled into this city that the entire citizenship of the State
was in the immense crowd congregated at Topeka to-day. My
voice was so strained in attempting to speak there that I will only
say to you that it gives me great pleasure to see you and to speak
to you, even for a moment, at this hospitable town. All the in-
spiration connected with the story of the early history of Kansas
clusters around the city of Lawrence. I am sure you will find in that
story inspiration and suggestion that will keep the cause of liberty
ever near to your hearts. [Great applause.]
KANSAS CITY, OCTOBER 10.
THE presidential party reached Kansas City at 5 : 30
P.M. Friday, where a grand reception was tendered the
Chief Executive. The Committee of Reception, represent-
ing the municipality and business interests, comprised the
following prominent citizens, who escorted the President
from Topeka: Mayor Benjamin Holmes, Witten Mc-
Donald, J. C. James, Joseph Speyer, Judge C. L. Dobson,
Col. M. J. Payne, W. S. Woods, Hon. E. H. Allen, F. L.
Kaufman, M. E. Lawrence, Joseph Calm, Col. T. B. Bul-
lene, Col. E. H. Phelps, Col. J. F. Richards, George R.
Barse, Major William Warner, William Taylor, Col. Louis
Hammerslough, E. C. Sattley, J. H. Fink, Col. W. A. Wil-
son, Marshal Tracy, F. B. Nofsinger, Collector Devol, Sur-
veyor Guffin, Dr. F. W. Schulte, W. T. Urie, G. S. Hamp-
ton, J. H. Smith, M. D. Henderson, H. J. Rosecrans, R. M.
Easley, H. C. Fike, B. S. Flersheim, Wm. Barton, H. J.
Long, E. M. Clendeiiing, T. James, James M. Coburn, L.
E. Irwin, C. L. Valandingham, G. W. Hollinger, E! E.
Richardson, E. M. Wilcox, J. M. Cooper, W. H. Bundage,
M. H. Dickerson, C. A. Brockett, S. A. Pierce, J. H. Neff,
S. R. Hudson, A. H. Moffitt, S. B. Stokely, P. L. Whipple,
266 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
J. W. Merrill, D. G. Saunders, F. W. Hatch, G. Bern-
heimer, B. C. Burgess, S. T. Smith, and J. L. Walker.
An enormous crowd greeted the President as he was
driven to the Coates House, where the distinguished party
were entertained at dinner by Mayor Holmes, e£-Governor
Crittenden, Mayor W. A. Coy, of Kansas City, Kan. ; Gov.
A. J. Smith, of the Soldiers' Home at Leavenworth; Hon.
John Scott Harrison — the President's brother — and other
leading citizens.
In response to a toast to the President's health, General
Harrison said :
Gentlemen — I am sorry to cause even this temporary interruption
by leaving the banquet, but I am sure you will all appreciate the
desire I have to spend a few minutes under my brother's roof in
your city, and will therefore excuse me. Let me say that I very
much appreciate the friendly and hospitable spirit of the business
men of Kansas City, to whom I am indebted for this banquet and
reception. It has never been my pleasure before to visit your cit3r,
but it has been well advertised, and I have heard of it frequently.
[Laughter and applause. ] So far as I could tell by the dim light
of the evening in riding through the city, it realizes fully my
expectations in growth and prosperity. [Applause.] Let me say,
in conclusion, that I hope all your dreams for Kansas City may be
realized. [Great applause.]
After passing the evening at his brother's residence, at
8 P.M. the President was escorted by 300 members of the
Third Regiment and a cavalry guard, commanded by Col.
Milton Moore, to the Chamber of Commerce, wiiere an
informal reception was held.
Major William Warner introduced the President, who
said:
My Fellow citizens — I will not attempt to say more than that I
am very grateful to you for your kindness, for this cordial, genuine
Kansas City welcome. [Cheers.] The arrangements which have
been made, and which are intended to give me an opportunity to
meet some of you personally, and the early hour at which we are
to take the train for St. Louis, make it inappropriate that I should
attempt to speak at any length. I thank you again for your kind-
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 207
ness, and will now submit myself to such arrangements as the
committee have made to spend the little time I have to spend with
you. [Cheers. J
ST. LOUIS, OCTOBER 11.
THE President arrived in St. Louis at 9 : 30 in the morn-
ing and received a royal welcome. As he drove through
the city amid the roar of cannon, it is estimated that fully
200,000 people greeted him, and his journey partook of a
triumph. The committee of escort that met the President
at Kansas City consisted of ex-Gov. E. O. Stanard, Col. S.
W. Fordyce, Hon. R, C- Kerens, and Marcus Bernheimer.
The guard of honor was a detail from the Grand Army,
commanded by Major Leo Rassieur.
The President was met on arrival by the following dis-
tinguished Committee of Reception . His Honor, Mayor
Noonan, D. M. Houser, Geo. D. Reynolds, R. M. Scruggs,
Nelson Cole, Col. James G. Butler, Col. J. O. Churchill,
Daniel Catlin, Wm. M. Senter, John Orrick, John S.
Moffett, S. Newman, D. P. Rowland, John J. Daly, A. B.
Ewing, Miles Sells, John Dillon, Professor Waterhouse,
Frank Buchanan, John B. Harlow, Marquand Foster,
Philip Brockman, Wm. Grassmuck, Chas. Scudder, John
J. O'Brien, T. J. Cummings, John H. Terry, J. S. Finken-
bauer, C. J. Hanabrinck, L. Bohle, O. M. Dean, John M.
Sellers, James Green, Dr. Thomas O'Reilly, Samuel Ken-
nard, O. M. Haye, John A. Scudder, H. L. Morrill, S. H.
H. Clark, John Scullen, C. C. Maffitt, Joseph Franklin,
Hon. F. G. Niedringhaus, Hon. Nathan Frank, W. M.
Kinsey, E. S. Rowse, Geo. D. Barnard, J. L. Boland, D.
H. King, C. P. Walbridge, B. F. Harnett, Geo. Taylor, R.
P. Tansey, A. S. White, F. A. Wanii, M. M. Bodenheimer,
W. A. Hargadine, George A. Baker, John N. Booth, Geo.
W. Parker, J. D. Thompson, George A. Medill, E. C. Sim-
mons, Edwin C. Kehr, G. A. Finkelnburg, Marcus Bern-
heimer, L. Beavis, Charles F. Joy, Henry Hitchcock,
268 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
Wm. H. Thompson, W. F. Niedringhaus, Charles Espen-
schied, A. B. Goodbaugh, Jonathan Rice, Jacob Meyer,
Goodman King, D. C. Nugent, John Davis, J. D. Bascom,
R. W. Shapleigh, Edgar D. Tilton, John C. Wilkinson, D.
D. Walker, Frederick Vaughn, E. F. Williams, J. H.
Wear, C. D. Comfort, C. C. Rainwater, F. W. Humphrey,
Michael McGinnis, John Wahl, W. L. Hughes, and
Thomas H. West.
After reviewing the parade from the balcony of the
Southern Hotel the President and Secretary Tracy visited
the Merchants' Exchange and were tendered a reception
by the business men of the city. Mr. Marcus Bernheimer,
President of the Exchange, occupied the presiding chair
and introduced Gov. D. R. Francis, who, in an eloquent
address, welcomed the President in the name of the people
of Missouri. The Governor was followed by Hon. Edward
A. Noorian, Mayor of St. Louis, who extended a " sincere
and hearty greeting," on behalf of the residents of the
city.
Hon. Charles Parsons then introduced the President,
who addressed the assemblage as follows :
Governor Francis, Mr. Mayor, and Fellow -citizens — It is very
grateful and very healthful to be so cordially received by you this
morning. The office which I have been called upon to administer
is very great in dignity, but it is very full of care and heavy
responsibility. The man who with conscientious regard and a
proper appreciation of the great trust seeks to administer it for the
public good will find himself daily beset with perplexities and
doubts, and daily besieged by those who differ with him as to the
public administration. But it is a great comfort to know that we
have an intelligent, thoughtful, and, at the same time, a very kind
people, who judge benevolently and kindly the acts of those public
servants of whose good disposition to do right they are not left in
doubt. And it is very pleasant to know— and I do not need these
eloquent words of assurance to have already impressed upon me —
the great lesson that there are more things in which we agree and
have common interests than in which we differ. But our differ-
ences of opinion as to public administration are all brought to-
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 2G9
gcther in a genuine patriotism and love of country. [Applause].
It gives me pleasure to witness since my last visit to St. Louis
evidence of that steady and uninterrupted growth which this great
commercial centre has made since its birth as an Indian trad ing -
post on the Mississippi. No year has been without its added evi-
dences of progress, development, accumulation of wealth, and
increase in population. You have now passed any period of doubt
or uncertainty, and the career of St. Louis is assured. You have
grown like the oak, annually adding a ring to the prosperity and
wealth and commercial importance of your great city. You have
struck the roots of your influence broad and deep into the nourish-
ing earth of this great fertile land in which you have lived , and
the branches — the high branches of your enterprise — are reaching
toward the sunlight that shines upon them. You are situated upon
the Mississippi River, giving you water communication with the
sea, a communication which this Government has undertaken to
improve and secure, and which I believe will be made secure by
appropriate legislation. [Applause.] Nor do I know any rea-
son why these great lines of railway stretching from St. Louis to
the Southwest may not yet touch great ports of commerce, deep
harbors, until they shall become trunk lines. We have come to
regard only these lines of railway communication to eastern sea-
boards as trunk lines. I do not know why. Indeed, I believe that
in the future, when we shall have seized again, as we will seize if
we are true to ourselves, our own fair part of commerce upon the
sea, and when we shall have again our appropriate share of South
American trade [cheers], that these railroads from St. Louis,
touching deep harbors on the gulf, and communicating there with
lines of steamships, shall touch the ports of South America and
bring their tribute to you. You shall in all these things find
a special interest, but an interest that will be shared, as all great
interests are, by the Nation and people, of which you are a loyal
and enterprising part. And now, my friends, again let me thank
you, and all those who have spoken in your behalf, for these
friendly words. These great industries of commerce and manu-
factures here are entwined in friendly helpfulness. As they are
diversified your prosperity is increased , but under them all, as the
only secure rock upon which they can rest, is social order and
obedience to the law. Let it never be forgotten anywhere that
commerce builds only upon social order. Be watchful and careful
of every instrumentality or suggestion which puts itself against
the law. Where the law is wrong make it right. [Cries of
"Good!" and cheering.] Let that be the one rule of conduct in
270 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
the public relations of every American citizen. And now, my
friends, again let me say thank you and good -by.
At the conclusion of the reception on 'Change the Presi-
dent, escorted by the Committee of Reception, visited the
Fair Grounds and attended a banquet in his honor at the
Jockey Club House. In the evening the distinguished
guests visited the Exposition, where a tremendous crowd
gathered. As the President entered Music Hall, Gilmore's
famous band struck up " Hail to the Chief. " The great
audience stood and called repeatedly for a speech. The
President arose in his box and bowed several times ; but
there was no denying their demands, and Governor Fran-
cis finally introduced his excellency, who said :
Ladies and Gentlemen— I have sometimes thought that the life
of the President of the United States is like that of the policeman
in the opera — not a happy one. So many cares strew his path, so
many people's welfare is to be considered, that wiser heads than
mine may well be puzzled. The attention of this mighty audience
to-night has been distracted from the concert by my entrance, not
withstanding the fact that it has a leader more a master of his art
than any other on the continent. I did not, nor do I desire to
make a speech to night. But as I have always declared myself in
favor of the rule of the majority, I feel compelled to do so.
From early morn till late this evening the day has been one of
unalloyed pleasure to me. Every possible courtesy has been shown
our party, and we have gathered, I assure you, a most high opinion
of your people and your city. This building is in every way a
credit to St. Louis, the metropolis of the Southwest, and its exhib-
its do credit to the merchants and manufacturers represented. I am
glad to see that the higher arts go hand-in-hand with mechanics.
Art, music, poetry, and song should not be separated from the
homes of the poor, and such an institution as this cannot fail to
instil all that is good into the hearts of every one. Before I close
let me tell you all how grateful and how complimented I feel at
my hearty reception in your midst. I shall always recall this day
with happy remembrance. Now, won't you crown the great cour-
tesies of the day by allowing me to end my speech? [Applause.]
HAEEISON'S SPEECHES. 271
ANDERSON, INDIANA, OCTOBER 13.
PRESIDENT HARRISON passed the Sabbath quietly at his
Indianapolis residence, and early Monday morning, ac-
companied by Secretary Tracy and Marshal Ransdell,
started for Washington.
The first stop was at Pendleton, where the President
shook hands with quite a crowd. Anderson, the county
seat of Madison County, was reached at 7 :10, and a large
concourse of people greeted the travellers. The President
was received by Hon. Winfield T. Durbin, Chas. T. Doxey,
W. A. Kittinger, John F. McClure, Caleb Brown, Jacob
Koehler, Francis Watkins, A. A. Small, and other leading
citizens. Mayor Terhune, in a patriotic address, presented
the Chief Executive.
After acknowledging the cordial greeting, the President
spoke of the rapid industrial development of that section
consequent upon the discovery and development of natural
gas, and predicted a fine future for the county. Conclud-
ing, he said :
I am here to-day, returning to my duties at Washington from a
trip taken to meet some of my old comrades during the war.
There are some here this morning. I bid them God-speed ; I give
them a comrade's greeting; and to you, my old-time friends, not
in politics, but in that pride and association which makes us all
Indianians — we are all proud of our State and proud of our com-
munities— I desire to say that while I have friends elsewhere, these
were my earliest friends — friends of my boyhood almost, for I was
scarcely more than a boy when I became a citizen of this State,
and I always turn to it with affectionate interest. [Cheers.]
MUNCIE, INDIANA, OCTOBER 13.
AT Muncie the assemblage was very large, numbering
over 10,000, and the President received the most vociferous
greeting of the day. Here, as at other points in the State,
hundreds of General Harrison's old friends crowded forth
to welcome him and bid him God-speed. Prominent
272 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
among these were: Hon. Frank Ellis, Mayor of the city;
Hon. M. C. Smith, Hon. John C. Eiler, Hon. Fred W.
Heath, Hon. W. W. Or, Hon. O. K Cranor, Hon. Geo. W.
Cromer, Judge O. J. Lotz, Dr. G. W. H. Kemper, Dr.
Thos. J. Bowles, Dr. A. B. Bradbury, A. L. Kerwood, Geo.
L. Lenon, F. E. Putnam, Thos. H. Kirby, Charles H. An-
thony, D. H. H. Shewmaker, Theodore F. Rose, N. N.
Spence, Chas. M. Kimbrough, Webster S. Richey, Thos.
L. Zook, John T. Watterhouse, J. W. Ream, C. E. Jones,
and R. I. Patterson. Mayor Ellis delivered a brief wel-
coming address and introduced the President, who spoke
as follows:
My Fellow -citizens— I have known this beautiful city of yours
and many of the people of this prosperous county for more than
thirty years. I have known in a general way the development of
your interests by almost yearly visits to the city of Muncie, but it
seems to me that in these two years I have been out of the State
you have made more progress than in any ten years when I was
in the State. [Cheers. ] I think it was in the year 1886, when I
spent a night in Muncie, that my attention was drawn by some of
your citizens, as darkness settled down, to a remarkable and what
was then thought to be chiefly a curious red glow in your horizon.
It was, if I recollect aright, about the earliest development of nat-
ural gas in Indiana, and the extent of this great field was wholly
unknown. How rapidly events have crowded each other since !
You have delved into the earth and have found the supply of this
most adaptable and extraordinary fuel inexhaustible ; and what has
it done for you? No longer are you transporting coal from the
distant mines to feed your furnaces. No longer are you sending
the choppers into the woods to cut your trees and haul them in,
that they may bring you winter heat and fuel. The factories have
been coming to you. This convenient heat and serviceable fuel is
found in the humblest home in Muncie. How it has added to
your comfort only those who have used it know. How much it
has added to your prosperity and development of manufactures here
you have only begun to know. [Cheers. ]
The sunlight will not more surely shed its beams on us this
morning than this great tide of prosperity which has set in through
this gas belt in Indiana shall go on increasing until all these cities
and towns within its radius are full of busy men and humming
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 273
machinery. What does all this mean? It means employment for
men. It means happy and comfortable homes for an increasing
population. It means an increased home market for the products
of your farm. It means that the farmer will have a choice of
crops, and will have consumers for perishable products of his farm
at his very door. It means, if you preserve the order of your com-
munity, if this good county of Delaware continues to maintain its
reputation as a law-abiding, liberty-loving, free-school-loving pop-
ulation [cheers], that you shall have a prosperity — an increase of
riches and of human comfort that we have scarcely conceived.
And now, my friends, all over this, and above all this, and better
than it all, let us keep in mind those higher things that make our
country great. I do not forget that your good county sent to the
war of the Union, in the gallant regiments that went from this
State, a multitude of brave men to stand by the flag. [Cheers. ]
Some of them are with you to- day. [Applause.] Now let that
love of the flag be still uppermost in your hearts. Nothing has
pleased me more as I passed through some of our Western States
than to see that the school children everywhere had the starry flag
in their hands. [Cheers.] Let it be so here and everywhere. Let
them learn to love it, to know its beauty, in order that when the
time of. peril comes they may be ready to defend it. [Applause. ]
Now to these friends, I am most grateful for your appreciative
kindness, and if I shall be able, in the discharge of high and diffi-
cult duties, to maintain the respect and confidence of my fellow-
citizens of Indiana, other things will take care of themselves.
WINCHESTER, INDIANA, OCTOBER 13.
WINCHESTER'S greeting was of the most cordial char-
acter ; a large share of the population of Randolph County
seemed to have turned out to do the President honor.
Among the prominent citizens participating were : Lean-
der J. Monks, Albert O. Marsh, Martin B. Miller, C. W.
Moore, Dennis Kelley, W. R. Way, W. E. Miller, T. F.
Moorman, Albert Canfield, John R. Engle, A. C. Beeson,
E. L. Watson, Thos. S. Gordon, H. P. Kizer, J. E. Watson,
John T. Chenoweth, W. H. Reinheimer, B. Hawthorne,
and B. W. Simmons.
Gen. Thomas M. Browne, on behalf of the citizens, de-
is
274 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
livered an eloquent address of welcome, and closed by in-
troducing President Harrison, who said :
My Friends— It gives me great pleasure to hear from the lips of
your honored fellow -citizen, my old-time army comrade, these
words of welcome, spoken in your behalf. I thank you and him
for his assurance that your assembling here together is without
regard to difference in belief, and as American citizens having
common interests and a common love for the flag and the Consti-
tution. Now, to these good people of Randolph County I render
this morning my sincere thanks for their hearty and cordial wel-
come. No public servant, in whatever station, can ever be in-
different to the good esteem of men and women and children like
these. You do not know how much these kindly faces, these
friendly Indiana greetings, help me in the discharge of duties that
are not always easy.
I bid you good-by and God-speed. I do wish for Indiana and all
her people the greatest happiness that God can give. [Prolonged
cheers.]
UNION CITY, INDIANA, OCTOBER 13.
THE President found another great crowd awaiting him
at Union City, including several hundred school children,
each waving a flag. Between rows of children he was es-
corted to the park near the station by a committee consist-
ing of Hon. Theo. Shockney, B. F. Coddington, J. S.
Reeves, and Geo. W. Patchell. Arrived - at the park he
was met by James B. Ross, S. R. Bell, L. C. Huesman, J.
F. Rubey, W. S. Ensign, L. D. Lambert, J. B. Montani,
C. S. Hardy, J. C. Platt, Judge J. W. Williams, R. G.
Clark, H. H. Le Fever, H. D. Grabs, Chas. Hook, and other
prominent citizens. Senator Shockney made the welcom-
ing address. The President, responding, said :
Senator Shockney and Fellow -citizens — The conditions are not
such here that I can hope to make many of you hear the few words
that it is possible for me to speak to you. I have found myself in
this tour through these Western States, undertaken for the purpose
of meeting some of my comrades of the late war, who had invited
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 275
me to be with them at their annual gatherings, repeating the words
" Thank you" everywhere. I have felt how inadequate this word
or any other word was to express the sense of gratitude I should
feel to these friendly fellow -citizens who everywhere greeted me
with kind words and kinder faces. I feel very grateful to see you,
and to realize that if there are any fault-finders, sometimes with
reason, and sometimes without, that the great body of our people
are interested only in good government, in good administration, and
that the offices shall be filled by men who understand that they are
the servants of the people, and who serve them faithfully and well.
If it were not so a President would despair. Great as the Govern-
ment is, vast as is our civil list, it is wholly inadequate to satisfy
the reasonable demands of men, and so, from disappointment, rea-
sonable or unreasonable, we turn with confidence and receive with
encouragement these kindly greetings from the toilers of the coun-
try—the men and women who only ask from the Government that
it shall protect them in their lives, their property, and their homes ;
that it shall encourage education, provide for these sweet young
children, so that they shall have an easier road in life than their
fathers had, and that there shall be an absence of corrupt intent or
act in the administration of public business.
And now, standing on the line which divides these two States,
the one for which I have the regard every man should feel for his
birthplace, and the other to which I owe everything I have received
in civil life or public honor, I beg to call your attention to the fact
how little State lines have to do with American life. Some of you
pay your taxes on that side of the line, some on this, but in your
intercourse, business, and social ties you cross this line unknow-
ingly. Above both and greater than both — above the just pride
which Ohioans have in that noble State, and above the just pride
which we have in Indiana — there floats this banner that is the com-
mon banner of us all. We are one in citizenship ; we are one in
devotion to the Government, which makes the existence of States
possible and their destruction impossible. [Cheers.] And now,
to these children, to my Grand Army friends, and to these old cit-
izens, many of whom I have met under other conditions, I beg to
say God bless you every one, and good-by.
276 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
DE GRAFF, OHIO, OCTOBER 13.
CROSSING the Ohio line a short stop was made at Sid-
ney, where the President shook hands and received a dele-
gation from Bellefontaine headed by Judge Wm. Lawrence.
At De Graff the President met with a cordial reception,
especially from the school children. He was welcomed by
ex-Mayor H. P. Runyon, Dr. W. W. Hamer, Dr. W. H.
Hinkle, W. E. Haris, G. W. Harnish, John F. Rexer, Dr.
F. M. Galer, Dr. Wm. Hance, R. O. Bigley, D. S. Spellman,
D. W. Koch, Benjamin Bunker, W. H. Valentine, J. W.
Strayer, and S. E. Loffer.
Superintendent of Schools Joseph Swisher introduced
the President, who said :
My Friends — I am very glad to see you all, and especially these
dear young children. I have been passing through a country glo-
rious in the autumnal tints which make a landscape that can be
seen nowhere else in the world, and yet I turn always from these
decaying glories of nature with great delight to look into the
bright faces of these happy children, where I see a greater, because
immortal, glory. I thank them for their presence here this morn-
ing. I wish their lives may be as sunny and bright through man-
hood and through womanhood, finding happiness in usefulness. I
wish I had time to shake hands with you all. [Cheers. ]
BELLEFONTAINE, OHIO, OCTOBER 13.
BELLEFONTAINE accorded the President an enthusiastic
welcome. The Committee of Reception consisted of Dr.
A. L. Wright, Mayor of the city; Judge William Law-
rence, Judge West, Judge Price, J. C. Brand, D. Hennesy,
Geo. W. Emerson, Aaron Gross, A. C. Elliott, A, E.
Griffen, H. J. King, J. E. West, I. N. Zearing, and J. Q.
A. Campbell.
Mayor Wright delivered a brief welcoming address and
introduced the President, who spoke as follows :
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 277
My Fellow -citizens— I wish all of you could have seen what I
have seen in this extended but hasty visit through some of the
great States of the central West , the broader view which we get
as we journey through this country of the capabilities of its soil,
of the beauties of its landscape, of the happiness of its homes, but,
above all, of the sturdy manhood of its people, can but be useful
to every public man and every patriot. [Applause. ] No one can
make such a journey as we have and look into the faces of hun-
dreds of thousands of his fellow-citizens and see how here in Ohio,
Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri they are everywhere
characterized by a sturdy independence and intelligent thoughtful-
ness and manhood, and doubt the future of this country of which
they are citizens. Nothing can shake its repose as long as this
great mass of people in these homes, on these farms, in these shops
and city dwelling-places are true to themselves and to their chil-
dren. Not every one can hope to reach the maximum of human
wealth or enjoyment, but nowhere else is there so general a diffu-
sion of human comfort and the conveniences of life as in this laud
of ours. You must not, then, show un thankfulness to the framere
of our great Constitution or to God by indulging in gloomy fore-
bodings or in unreasonable complaint. He has not promised that
everywhere and every season the fields should give full returns.
He has promised that the food of man should not fail, and where
else is famine unknown? Other countries have now and then
appealed for philanthropic help from abroad to feed their popula-
tion, greater or less. The United States has always a surplus after
its people are fed, and for this we should be thankful. I have
been told everywhere that though crops in some respects and in
some places have been short, the general prosperity is very great.
Everywhere I have been told that no wheel is idle, and that no
hand is idle that seeks employment that honest bread may come
to his household. I believe that we are on an upward grade of
prosperity, if we will be brave and hopeful and true, that shall
lead us perhaps to a development and an increase of wealth we
have never before attained. And now, my fellow-citizens, thank-
ing you for this friendly morning greeting, I bid you good- by.
[Applause.] Let me have the pleasure, however, of introducing
to you my valued associate at Washington — Secretary Tracy.
[Applause. ]
278 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
CRESTLINE, OHIO, OCTOBER 13.
THE people of "Crestline honored the President with a
large assembly, prominent among whom were: Mayor
P. W. Pool, Hon. Daniel Babst, John G. Barney, Alexander
Hall, B. F. Miller, John Whittle, John F. Castle, C. F.
Frank, Dr. W. P. Bennett, L. G. Russell, A. Howorth, G.
B. Thrailkill, tE. S. Bagley, D. L. Zink, J. P. Davis, T. P.
Kerr, W. R. Boyd, E. W. Hadley, Samuel Gee, C. C. Hall,
D. S. Patterson, and Richard Youngblood.
Mayor Pool welcomed and introduced the President in a
brief address. General Harrison responded :
My Fellow -citizens — Already some seven or oight times this
morning, beginning before breakfast, I have been called upon to
talk briefly to my fellow-citizens who have gathered at the various
points where we made brief stops at their request. The story I
must tell you is the same old story I have been telling them — that
I am very grateful for your friendly expressions and presence ;
very grateful for the kindliness which speaks through those who
address me, and for the kindness which appears in all your faces.
It is pleasant to know that as against all enemies of our country
we are one, that we have great pride, just pride in our birthright
as American citizens, just pride in the country of our adoption as
to those who have found a home here with us. It is the people's
land more than any other country in the world. Mr. Lincoln
felicitously expressed it to be a "government of the people, by the
people, for the people. " [Applause. ] They originate it ; they
perpetuate it. If it does not miss its purpose it is administered
for their good. [Applause.] And so to you upon whom the bur-
den of citizenship now rests, you who have the care of these homes
and the responsibilities of womanhood ; to these lads who will soon
be citizens, and to these girls who are coming on to womanhood,,
to all I express my thanks for your friendly greeting. [Applause. ]
To every one of you I wish the most abundant success ; that every
home represented here may be a typical American home, in which
morality and purity and love sit as the crowning virtues and are
household gods. Our country is prosperous, though not all have
attained -this year the measure of success which they had hoped
for. If there was any shortness of crops anywhere, already the
fields are green with the promise of another year. Let our hearts
HA RRTSON ' S SPEECHES. 2 7 9
be hopeful, let us he faithful and true, and the future of our coun-
try and our own comfort are assured. [Cheers. ]
MANSFIELD, OHIO, OCTOBER 13.
AT Mansfield, the home of Senator Sherman, a large
assemblage greeted the President, prominent among whom
was the distinguished Senator, and Hon. Henry C. Hedges,
Frank W. Pierson, J. M. Waugh, Frank K. Tracy, Maj.
Joseph S. Hedges, Hon. W. S. Kerr, J. R. Brown, Nelson
Ozier, Capt. W. S. Bradford, Hon. W. S. Cappeller, Hon.
W. M. Hahn, Capt, Joseph Brown, G. U. Ham, Maj. W.
W. Smith, Geo. C. Wise, Judge Jas. E. Lowry, James Mc-
Coy, John Crum, Ried Carpenter, and Wm. C. Hedges, Jr.
Senator Sherman introduced the President, who spoke
briefly, saying:
My Fellow -citizens — We stop so frequently upon this journey
and our time at each station is so brief, that I cannot hope to say
anything that would be interesting or instructive. I thank you
most sincerely for these friendly manifestations. I am glad to be
permitted to stop at the home of your distinguished Senator and
my friend. [Cheers. ] I am sure, however you may differ from him
in political opinion, the people of Mansfield and of Ohio are proud
of the eminence which he has attained in the counsels of the
Nation and of the distinguished service he has been able to render
to his country not only in Congress but in the Treasury Department.
[Cheers.] He is twin in greatness with that military brother who
led some of you, as he did me, in some of the great campaigns of
the war, and they have together rendered conspicuous services to
this country, which we, as they, love with devoted affection. We
have so many common interests and so much genuine friendliness
among the American people that except in the very heat and ardor
of a political campaign the people are kind to each other, and we
soon forget the rancor of these political debates. We ought never
to forget that we are American citizens ; we ought never to forget
that we are put in charge of American interests, and that it is our
duty to defend them. [Applause. ] Thanking you again for your
presence and kindliness, I bid you good-by. [Applause.]
280 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
WOOSTER, OHIO, OCTOBER 13.
AT Wooster, the seat of the well-known university, the
presidential party received a rousing greeting, especially
from the students with their college cry. At the head of
the Committee of Reception was the venerable Professor
Stoddard, formerly professor of chemistry at Miami Uni-
versity when Benjamin Harrison attended that institute.
Among other prominent townsmen who received the Pres-
ident were: Hon. M. L. Smyser, Hon. A. S. McClure,
Jacob Frick, Col. C. V. Hard, Capt. Harry McClarran, Dr.
John A. Gann, Dr. R. N. Warren, Capt. R. E. Eddy, Lieut.
W. H. Woodland, W. O. Beebe, Dr. J. D. Robison, Wm.
Annat, John C. Hall, Enos Pierson, R. J. Smith, Samuel
Metzler, Geo. W. Reed, C. W. McClure, A. G. Coover, A.
M. Parish, Anthony Wright, Abram Plank, J. S. R. Over-
holt, Jesse McClellan, David Nice, Andrew Branstetter,
Charles Landam, Wm. F. Kane, Capt. Lemuel Jeffries,
Sylvester F. Scovel, D.D., 0. A. Hills, D.D., Jas. M.
Quinby, R. W. Funck, and Harry Heuffstot.
Congressman Smyser introduced the President, who
said:
My Fellow-citizens— If anything could relieve the sense of weari-
ness which is ordinarily incident to extended railroad travel, it
would be the exceeding kindness with which we have been every-
where received by our fellow-citizens, and to look upon an audience
like that assembled here, composed in part of venerable men who
experienced the hardships of early life in Ohio, of some of those
venerable women who shared those labors and self-denials of early
life in the West, and in part of their sons, that gallant second
generation, who, in the time of the Nation's peril in 1861, sprang
to its defence and brought the flag home in honor [applause], and
in part of these young men here undergoing that discipline of
mind which is to fit them for useful American citizenship, full of
the ambitions of early manhood, and, I trust, rooted in the princi-
ples of morality and loyalty [applause], and in part of these sweet-
faced children, coming from your schools and homes to brighten
with their presence this graver assembly. Where else in the
world could such a gathering be assembled? Where else so much
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 281
social order as here? The individual free to aspire and work, the
community its own police officer and guardian.
We are here as American citizens, having, first, duties to our
families, then to our neighborhood — to the institutions and busi-
ness with which we are connected — but above all, and through and
by all these duties, to our country and to God, by whose beneficial
guidance our Government was founded, by whose favor and pro-
tection it has been preserved. [Applause. ] Friendly to all peoples
of the world, we will not thwart their course or provoke quarrels
by unfriendly acts, neither will we be forgetful of the fact that we
are charged here first with the conservation and promotion of
American interests, and that our Government was founded for its
own citizenship. [Applause and cheers.] But I cannot speak at
further length. I must hurry on to other places, where kind people
are impatiently awaiting our coming, and to duties which will be
assumed and undertaken with more courage since I have so often
looked into the kind faces of the people whom I endeavor to serve.
[Applause.] Let me present to you now, and I do so with great
pleasure, one of the gentlemen called by me under the Constitution
to assist in the administration of the Government — one whom I
know you have learned to love and honor as you are now privi-
leged to know — Gen. Benjamin F. Tracy, the Secretary of the
Navy. [Cheers. ]
ORRVILLE, OHIO, OCTOBER 13.
AT Orrville, Wayne County, it was not contemplated to
stop ; but so large and enthusiastic was the crowd the Pres-
ident held a brief reception. Among the prominent towns-
men who welcomed him were : A. H. Walkey, S. N. Coe,
A. E. Clark, J. W. Hostetter, A. Dennison, K S. Brice, D.
J. Luikheim, and John Trout.
In response to repeated cries of "speech," the President
said: "Fellow-citizens — The American people are very
kind" — at this point the train started, and the President
closed abruptly by saying — "and I feel sure that they
will here excuse my failure to make a speech." There
were loud shouts of laughter at the President's readiness
as the train pulled out.
282 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
MASSILLON, OHIO, OCTOBER 13.
AT Massillon several thousand people assembled and
great enthusiasm prevailed. The Committee of Reception
consisted of Hon. William M. Reed, Mayor of the city;
Prof. E. A. Jones, Hon. J. Walter McClymonds, Hon. S.
A. Conrad, William F. Ricks, Clement Russell, and Joseph
Grapevine, Esq. The Grand Army veterans and school
children were present in force. Mayor Reed made the
welcoming address.
President Harrison, responding, said :
Mr. Mayor and Fellow- citizens — The burden of obligation con-
nected with this visit is put upon me by the enthusiasm and
magnitude of this welcome which you have extended to me. It
gives me pleasure to stop for a brief moment in a city widely cele-
brated for its industries, and among a people widely celebrated for
their virtues and intelligence. [Cheers.] It was especially grati-
fying as we passed in your suburbs, one of these busy hives of
industry, to see upon the bank, waving with hearty cheers, the
operatives in their work- day clothes. It is of great interest to
know that you have these diversified industries among you. Your
lot would be unhappy and not prosperous if you were all pursuing
the same calling, even if it were the calling to which I belong, the
profession of the law. [Laughter.]
It is well that your interchanging industries and pursuits lean
upon and help each other, increasing and making possible indeed
the great prosperity which you enjoy. I hope it is true here that
everybody is getting a fair return for his labor. We cannot afford
in America to have any discontented classes, and if fair wages are
paid for fair work we will have none. [Cheers.] I am not one of
those who believe that cheapness is the highest good. I am not
one of those who believe that it can be to my interest, or to yours,
to purchase in the market anything below the price that pays to
the men who make it fair living wages. [Great cheering.] We
should all "live and let live" in this country. [Cheers.] Our
strength, our promise for the future, our security for social happi-
ness are in the contentment of the great masses who toil. It is in
kindly intercourse and relationship between capital and labor, each
having its appropriate increase, that we shall find the highest good,
the capitalist and employer everywhere extending to those who
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 283
work for human rights a kindly consideration with compensatory
wages. [Cheers. ]
Now, to these children and Grand Army friends who greet me
here, I say, thank you and God speed you and good-by. [Cheers.]
CANTON, OHIO, OCTOBER 13.
CANTON, the home of Hon. William McKinley, Jr.,
gave the President a most cordial and clamorous greeting.
The G. A. R. and other organizations were out in full
force. Among the leading citizens who welcomed the
Chief Executive were : W. K. Miller, W. L. Alexander,
Judge J. P. Fawcett, J. M. Campbell, Judge J. W. Under-
bill, Andrew D. Braden, Col. J. E. Dougherty, Col. J. J.
Clark, NT. Holloway, and Capt. C. T. Oldfield.
Major McKinley introduced the President, who ad-
dressed the large assemblage, saying :
My Fellow -citizens — The inconvenience which you suffer to-day,
and under which I labor in attempting to speak to you, comes from
the fact that there are more of you here than can come within the
range of my voice, but not more, I assure you, my fellow- citizens,
than I can take and do take most hospitably in my regard.
[Cheers.] It gives me great pleasure to stand here in the prosper-
ous and growing city of Canton. I am glad to be at the home of
one with whom I have been associated in Congressional duties for
a number of years, and who in all personal relations with me, as I
believe in all personal relations with you, his neighbors, has won
my regard, as I am sure he has won yours [cheers] ; and without
any regard to what may be thought of the McKinley bill, I am sure
here to-day you are all the good neighbors and friends of William
McKinley. [Cheers.] Kind-hearted and generous as he seems to
me, I am sure he has not failed in these social relations, whatever
judgment you may have of his political opinions, in making the
masses of the people proud of him as their distinguished friend.
[Cheers.]
You have here to-day the representatives of men from the shops,
from the railroads, from the stores, from the offices of your city.
You are living together in those helpful and interchanging rela-
tions which make American life pleasant and which make Ameri-
can cities prosperous. The foundation of our society is in the
284 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
motto that every man shall have such wages as will enable him
to live decently and comfortably, and rear his children as helpful
and safe and useful American citizens. [Cheers. ] We all desire,
I am sure — every kindly heart — that all the relations between
employers and workmen shall be friendly and kind, I wish every-
where the associations were closer and employers more thoughtful
of those who work for them. I am sure there is one thing in
which we all agree, whatever our views may be on the tariff or
finance, and that is, there is no prosperity that in the wide, liberal
sense does not embrace within it every deserving and industrious
man and woman in the community. [Cheers.] We are here all
responsible citizens, and we should all be free from anything that
detracts from our liberties and independence, or that retards the
development of our intelligence, morality, and patriotism.
I am glad here to speak to some, too, who were comrades in the
great struggle of the Civil War [cheers] ; glad that there are here
soldiers who had part in that great success by which our institu-
tions were preserved and the control and sovereignty of the Con-
stitution and law were forever established. [Cheers.] To them,
and to all such friends, I extend to-day a hearty greeting, and
would if I could extend a comrade's hand. [Cheers.] And now,
my friends, the heat of this day, the exhaustion of a dozen speeches,
made at intervals as we have come along, renders it impossible
that I should speak to you longer. I beg to thank you all for your
presence. I beg to hope that, as American citizens, however we
differ about particular matters of legislation or administration,
we are all pledged, heart and soul, life and property, to the preser-
vation of the Union and to the honor of our glorious flag. [Great
cheering. ]
ALLIANCE, OHIO, OCTOBER 13.
AT Alliance the assembly was very large. A Reception
Committee, headed by Mayor J. M. Still well and compris-
ing the following leading citizens, met the President:
Hon. David Fording, H. W. Harris, T. R. Morgan, Win.
Brinker, Madison Trail, Dr. J. H. Tressel, H. W. Brush,
W. H. Morgan, Thos. Brocklebank, Chas. Ott, Dr. W. P.
Preston, E. N. Johnston, J. H. Focht, W. H. Ramsey, W.
W. Webb, E. E. Scranton, Henry Heer, Jr., and Harper
Brosius.
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 285
Chairman Fording delivered a welcoming address and
introduced President Harrison, who in response said :
My Fellow -citizens — There is nothing in which the American
people are harder upon their public servants than in the insatiable
demand they make for public speech. I began talking before
breakfast this morning, and have been kept almost continuously at
it through the day, with scarcely time for lunch ; and yet, as long
as the smallest residuum of strength or voice is left I cannot fail
to recognize these hearty greetings and to say some appreciative
word in return. I do very much thank you, and I do very deeply
feel the cordial enthusiasm with which you have received me. It
is very pleasant to know that as American citizens we love our
Government and its institutions, and are all ready to pay appro-
priate respect to any public officer who endeavors in such light as
he has to do his public duty. This homage is not withheld by
one's political opponents, and it is pleasant to know that in all
things that affect the integrity and honor and perpetuity of our
Government we rise above party ties and considerations. The
interests of this Government are lodged with you. There is not
much that a President can do to shape its policy. He is charged
under the Constitution with the duty of making suggestions to
Congress, but, after all, legislation originates with the Congress of
the United States, and the policy of our laws is directed by it.
The President may veto, but he cannot frame a bill. Therefore it
is of great interest to you, and to all our people, that you should
choose such men to represent you in the Congress of the United
States as will faithfully promote those policies to which you have
given your intelligent adhesion. This country of ours is secure,
and social order is maintained, because the great masses of our
people live in contentment and some good measure of comfort.
God forbid that we should ever reach the condition which has been
reached by some other countries, where all that is before many of
their population is the question of bare subsistence, where it is
simply "how shall I find bread for to-day?" No hopes of accumu-
lation ; no hope of comfort ; no hope of education, or higher things
for the children that are to come after them. God be blessed that
that is not our condition in America ! Here is a chance to every
man ; here fair wages for fair work, with education for the masses,
with no classes or distinctions to keep down the ambitious young.
We have a happy lot. Let us not grumble if now and then things
are not prosperous as they might be. Let us think of the average,
and if this year's crop is not as full as we could wish, we have
286 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
already in these green fields the promise of a better one to come.
Let us not doubt that we are now — as I have seen the evidence of
it in a very extended trip through the West — entering upon an up
grade in all departments of business. [Cheers. ] Everywhere I
went, in the great city of St. Louis and the smaller manufacturing
towns through which we passed, there was one story to tell — and
I have no doubt it is true in your midst — every wheel is running
and every hand is busy. [Cheers.] I believe the future is bright
before us for increasingly better times for all, and as it comes I
hope it may be so generally diffused that its kindly touch may be
felt by every one who hears me, and that its beneficent help may
come into every home. [Prolonged cheers. ]
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, APRIL 14, 1891.
Letter to Western States Commercial Congress.
THE first Western States Commercial Congress met at
Kansas City, Mo., April 14, 1891. Delegations composed
mainly of business men, appointed by the Governors of the
various States and Territories, were present from the fol-
lowing Western and Southern States and Territories:
Alabama, California, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois,
Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan,
Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska,
Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming,
New Mexico, and Oklahoma. On motion of Governor
Francis, of Missouri, State Senator H. B. Kelly, of Kan-
sas, was chosen Chairman of the Congress and Hon.
John W. Springer, of Illinois, Secretary. Letters of
regret were read from those who had been specially in-
vited to attend the Congress. Among the letters was
the following from President Harrison :
WASHINGTON, April 7.
HON. H. B. KELLY, Chairman, Kansas City, Mo. :
DEAR SIR — I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your
letter of March 24, inviting me to attend the meeting of the com-
mercial congress of the Western agricultural and mining States, to
assemble in Kansas City, April 14 to 19, for the purpose of consid-
I^AERISON'S SPEECHES. 287
ering measures affecting the general agricultural and business
prosperity of the Mississippi Valley States. I regret that it will
not be possible for me to accept this invitation. If I am not
detained here by public business I shall probably start about that
time for the Pacific coast by the Southern route ; and if that pur-
pose should be thwarted it will be by considerations that will also
prevent the acceptance of your invitation.
A public discussion of the conditions affecting agricultural and
business prosperity cannot but be helpful, if it is conducted on
broad lines and is hospitable to differences of opinion. The ex-
traordinary development of the productions of agriculture which
has taken place in a recent period in this country by reason of the
rapid enlargement of the area of tillage under the favoring land
laws of the United States, very naturally has called attention to
the value, and, indeed, the necessity of larger markets. I am one
of those who believe that a home market is necessarily the best
market for the producer, as it measurably emancipates him in pro-
portion to its nearness from the exactions of the transportation
companies. If the farmer could deliver his surplus produce to the
consumer out of his farm-wagon his independence and his profits
would be larger and surer. It seems to me quite possible to attain
a largely increased market for our staple farm products without
impairing our home market by opening the manufacturing trades
to a competition in which foreign producers, paying a lower scale
of wages, would have the advantage. A policy that would reduce
the number of our people engaged in mechanical pursuits or
diminish their ability to purchase food products by reducing wages
cannot be helpful to those now engaged in agriculture. The farm-
ers insist that the prices of farm products have been too low — below
the point of fair living and fair profits. I think so too, but I vent-
ure to remind them that the plea they make involves the conces-
sion that things may be too cheap. A coat may be too cheap as
well as corn. The farmer who claims a good living and profits for
his work should concede the same to eveiy other man and woman
who toils.
I look with great confidence to the completion of further recip-
rocal trade arrangements, especially with the Central and South
American states, as furnishing new and large markets for meats,
breadstuffs, and an important line of manufactured products.
Persistent and earnest efforts are also being made, and a consider-
able measure of success has already been attained, to secure the
removal of restrictions which we have regarded as unjust upon the
admission and use of our meats and live cattle in some of the
288 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
European countries. I look with confidence to a successful termi-
nation of the pending negotiations, because I cannot but assume
that when the absolutely satisfactory character of the sanitary
inspections now provided by our law is made known to those for-
eign states they will promptly relax their discriminating regula-
tions. No effort and none of the powers vested in the Executive
will be left unused to secure an end which is so desirable.
Your deliberations will probably also embrace consideration of
the question of the volume and character of our currency. It will
not be possible and would not be appropriate for me in this letter
to enter upon any elaborate discussion of these questions. One or
two things I will say, and first, I believe that every person who
thoughtfully considers the question will agree with me upon a
proposition which is at the base of all my consideration of the
currency question, namely, that any dollar, paper or coin, that is
issued by the United States must be made and kept in its commer-
cial uses as good as any other dollar. So long as any paper money
issued or authorized by the United States Government is accepted
in commercial use as the equivalent of the best coined dollar that
we issue, and so long as every coined dollar, whether of silver or
gold, is assured of an equivalent value in commercial use, there
need be no fear as to an excess of money. The more such money
the better. But, on the other hand, when any issue of paper or
coined dollars is, in buying and selling, rated at a less value than
other paper or coined dollars, we have passed the limit of safe
experiment in finance. If we have dollars of differing values, only
the poorest w-ill circulate. The farmer and the laborer, who are
not in hourly touch with the ticker of the telegraph, will require,
above all other classes of our community, a dollar of full value.
Fluctuations and depreciations are always at the first cost of these
classes of our community. The banker and the speculator antici-
pate, discount, and often profit by such fluctuations. It is very
easy, under the impulse of excitement of the stress of money strin-
gency, to fall into the slough of a depreciated or irredeemable
currency. It is a very painful and slow business to get out when
once in.
I have always believed, and do now more than ever believe, in
bimetallism, and favor the fullest use of silver in connection with
our currency that is compatible with the maintenance of the parity
of the gold and silver dollars in their commercial uses. Nothing,
in my judgment, would so much retard the restoration of the free
use of silver by the commercial nations of the world as legislation
adopted by us that would result in placing this country upon a basis
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 289
of silver monometallism. The legislation adopted by the first ses-
sion of the Fifty-first Congress I was assured by leading advocates of
free coinage — representatives of the silver States — would promptly
and permanently bring silver to $1.29 per ounce and keep it there.
That anticipation has not been realized. Our larger use of silver
has apparently, and for reasons not yet agreed upon, diminished
the demand for silver in China and India.
In view of the fact that it is impossible in this letter to elaborate,
and that propositions only can be stated, I am aware that what I
have said may be assailed in points where it is easily defensible,
but where I have not attempted to present the argument.
I have not before, excepting in an official way, expressed myself
on these subjects ; but feeling the interest, dignity, and impor-
tance of the assemblage in whose behalf you speak, I have ventured,
without bigotry of opinion, without any assumption of infalli-
bility, but as an American citizen, having a most earnest desire
that every individual and every public act of my life shall conduce
to the glory of our country and the prosperity of all our people, to
submit these views for your consideration.
Very respectfully, BENJAMIN HARRISON.
ACROSS THE CONTINENT, 1891.
PRESIDENT HARRISON started on his memorable jour-
ney to Texas and the Pacific Coast States at 12 :15 o'clock
Tuesday morning, April 14,1891. The party consisted
of the President and Mrs. Harrison, Postmaster- General
John Wanamaker, Secretary of Agriculture J. M. Rusk,
Mr. and Mrs. Russell B. Harrison, Mrs. J. R. McKee, Mrs.
Dimmick, Maj. J. P. Sanger, Military Aid to the Presi-
dent, Marshal Daniel M. Ransdell, Mr. and Mrs. Geo. W.
Boyd, Mr. E. F. Tibbott, stenographer to the President, and
Alfred J. Clark, O. P. Austin, and R. Y. Oulahan, press
representatives. At Chattanooga the party was joined
by the President's younger brother, Mr. Carter B. Harrison,
and wife, and at Los Angeles by Mr. C. L. Saunders.
The train that safely carried the head of the Nation on this
great tour was a marvel of mechanical perfection unrivalled
19
290 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
in equipment. Mr. Geo. W. Boyd, General Assistant Pas-
senger Agent of the Pennsylvania Railroad, prepared the
schedule and had charge of the train throughout.
No predecessor of President Harrison ever attempted
the great task of travelling 10,000 miles, or delivering 140
impromptu addresses within the limit of 30 days — an
achievement remarkable in many respects. His long-
extended itinerary was an almost continuous series of re-
ceptions and responses, and there is no instance where any
man in public life, subjected to the requirements of a
similar hospitable ordeal, has acquitted himself with
greater dignity, tact, and good sense both as to the matter
and manner of his utterances. This series of speeches is
in marked contrast with his incisive utterances during the
campaign of 1888, and disclose General Harrison's ability
to seize the vital topic of the moment and present it to a
mixed audience in such a way that while consistent with
his own record he yet raises no antagonisms.
ROANOKE, VIRGINIA, APRIL 14.
LEAVING Washington shortly after midnight, the train
passed through Lynchburg at an early hour and arrived at
Roanoke, its first stopping-point, at 8 : 50 A.M. Seemingly
the entire population of the enterprising city was out to
welcome the President to Old Virginia. Prominent among
those who greeted the party were Mr. and Mrs. Charles G.
Eddy, W. B. Bevill, John A. Pack, Allen Hull, A. S. As-
berry, and John D. Smith.
After shaking hands with several hundred, President
Harrison, in response to repeated calls, spoke as follows :
My Fellow -citizens — I desire to thank you very sincerely for this
friendly greeting. The State of Virginia is entitled, I think, to
high estimation among the States for its great history — for the
contribution it has made to the great story of our common country.
This fact you discovered, I think, long ago. For personal reasons
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 291
I have great affection for Virginia. It is the State of my fathers.
1 am glad this morning to congratulate you upon the marvellous
development which has come, and the greater which is coming, to
your commonwealth.
You not only have an illustrious story behind you, but before
you prospects of development in wealth and prosperity, in all that
makes a great State, such as never entered into the imagination of
those who laid the foundation of the commonwealth. [Cheers. ]
You are arousing now to a realization of the benefits of diversity
of industries.
In the olden time Virginia was a plantation State. I hope she
may never cease to have large agricultural interests. It is the
foundation of stable society, but I rejoice with you that she has
added to agriculture the mining of coal and iron, and, bringing
these from their beds, is producing all the products that enter into
the uses of life.
In this is the secret of that great growth illustrating what I see
about me here, and the promise of a future which none of us can
fully realize. In all of these things we have a common interest,
and I beg to assure you that in everything that tends to the social
order of your people and the development and increased prosperity
of the State of Virginia I am in most hearty sympathy with you
all. [Cheers.]
BRISTOL, TENNESSEE, APRIL 14.
THE town of Radf ord, Ya. , acknowledged the honor of
the President's visit in a cordial way. General Harrison
shook hands with many of the inhabitants. At Bristol,
Tenn., a crowd of several thousand greeted the party at
the station. The President was met and escorted to a high
bluff overlooking the city by Hon. Harvey C. Wood, at the
head of the following committee of prominent citizens :
Col. E. C. Manning, Hon. I. C. Fowler, Judge M. B. Wood,
A. S. McNeil, W. A. Sparger, A. C. Smith, C. H. Slack,
Rockingham Paul, Esq., Capt. J. H. Wood, Judge C. J.
St. John, Col. Nat M. Taylor, and John H. Caldwell.
Judge Wood made the welcoming address and intro-
duced the President, who, in response, said :
292 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
My Fellow -citizens — I have found not only pleasure but instruc-
tion in riding to-day through a portion of the State of Virginia
that is feeling in a very striking way the impulse of a new devel-
opment. It is extremely gratifying to notice that those hidden
sources of wealth which were so long unobserved and so long
unused are now being found, and that these regions, once so retired,
occupied by a pastoral people, having difficult access to the centres
of population, are now being rapidly transformed into busy manu
facturing and commercial centres.
In the early settlement of this city the emigrants poured over the
Alleghanies and the Blue Ridge like waters over an obstructing
ledge, seeking the fertile and attractive farm regions of the great
West. They passed unobserved these marvellous hidden stores of
wealth which are now being brought into use. Having filled those
great basins of the West, they are now turning back to Virginia
and West Virginia and ^Tennessee to bring about a development
and production for which the time is ripe, and which will surprise
the world. [Cheers.]
It has not been long since every implement of iron, domestic, agri-
cultural, and mechanical, was made in other States. The iron point
of the wooden mould-board plough with which the early farmers
here turned the soil came from distant States. But now Virginia
and Tennessee are stirring their energies to participate in a large
degree in mechanical productions and in the great awakening of
American influence which will lift the Nation to a place among
the nations of the world never before attained. [Cheers.]
What hinders us, secure in the market of our own great popula-
tion, from successful competition in the markets of the world?
What hinders our people, possessing every element of material
wealth and endowed with inventive genius and energy unsurpassed,
from having again upon the seas a merchant marine flying the flag
of our country and carrying its commerce into every sea and every
port?
I am glad to stand for this moment among you, glad to express
my sympathy with you in every enterprise that tends to develop
your State and local communities ; glad to stand with you upon
the one common platform of respect to the Constitution and the law,
differing in our policies as to what the law should be, but pledged
with a common devotion and obedience to law as the majority
shall by their expressions make it.
I shall carry away from here a new impulse to public duty, a
new inspiration as a citizen with you of a country whose greatness
is only dawning. And may I now express the pleasure I shall
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 293
have in every good that comes to you as a community and to each
of you as individuals? May peace, prosperity, and social order
dwell in your communities, and the fear and love of God in every
home ! [Cheers. ]
JOHNSON CITY, TENNESSEE, APRIL 14.
THE President was welcomed at Johnson City by 3,000
people. S. K. N. Patton Post, G. A. R., with Maj. A.
Cantwell, J. M. Erwin, and W. Hodges, acted as a guard of
honor to the Chief Magistrate. The committee to receive
and entertain the President comprised : Mayor Ike T.
Jobe, Hon. W. G. Mathes, President Board of Trade; Hon.
T. F. Singiser, Hon. A. B. Bowman, Hon. B. F. Childress,
Thos. E. Matson, Jas. M. Martin, J. C. Campbell, H. C.
Chandler, J. W. Cox, C. W. Marsh, L. W. Wood, J. A.
Mathes, H. W. Hargraves, J. F. Crumley, M. N. Johnson,
and W. W. Kirkpatrick.
Congressman Alfred A. Taylor presented the President,
who spoke as follows :
My Fellow -citizens — The office of President of the United States
is one of very high honor and is also one of very high responsi-
bility. No man having conscientiously at heart the good of the
whole people, whose interests are, under the law, in some degree
committed to his care, can fail to feel a most oppressive sense of
inadequacy when he comes to the discharge of these high functions.
Elected under a system of government which gives to the major-
ity of our people who have expressed their wishes through consti-
tutional methods the right to choose their public servants, when
he has taken the oath that inducts him into office he becomes the
servant of all the people, and while he may pursue the advocacy of
those measures to which the people have given their approval by
his choice, he should always act and speak with a reserve and a
respect for the opinion of others that shall not alienate from him
the good- will of his fellow -citizens, without regard to political
belief.
I shall not speak of what has been done, but I have a supreme
regard for the honor of the Nation, a profound respect for the Con-
stitution, and a most sincere desire to meet the just expectations
294 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
of my fellow- citizens. I am not one of those who believe that the
good of any class can be permanently and largely attained except
upon lines which promote the good of all our people.
I rejoice in the Union of the States. I rejoice to stand here in
East Tennessee among a people who so conspicuously and at such
sacrifice during the hour of the Nation's peril stood by the flag and
adhered to their convictions of public duty [cheers] ; and I am
especially glad to be able to say that those who, following other
views of duty, took sides against us in that struggle, without di-
vision in voice or heart to-day praise Almighty God that He pre-
served us one Nation. [Cheers.]
There is no man, whatever his views upon the questions that
then divided us, but, in view of the marvellous benefits which are
disseminating themselves over these States, must also bless God
to-day that slavery no longer exists and that the Union of free
States is indissoluble. [Cheers.]
What is it that has stirred the public of this great region, that
has kindled these furnace fires, that has converted these retired
and isolated farms upon which you and your ancestors dwelt into
centres of trade and mechanical pursuits, bringing a market close
to the door of the farmer and bringing prosperity into every home?
It is that we have no line of division between the States ; it is
that these impulses of freedom and enterprise, once limited in
their operations, are now common in all the States. We have a
common heritage. The Confederate soldier has a full, honorable,
and ungrudged participation in all the benefits of a great and just
Government. [Cheers. ]
I do not doubt to-day that these would be among the readiest of
our population to follow the old flag if it should be assailed from
any quarter. [Cheers.]
Now, my fellow-countrymen, I can pause but a moment with
you. It does me good to look into your faces, to receive these
evidences of your good-will. I hope I majr have guidance and
courage in such time as remains to me in public life conscien-
tiously to serve the public good and the common glory of our
beloved country. [Great cheering.]
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 295
JONESBORO, TENNESSEE, APRIL 14.
AT Jonesboro, the oldest city in Tennessee and the an-
cient capital of the State of Franklin, the President was
the recipient of a most cordial welcome. All the residents
of the town seemed to be present. Among the prominent
citizens who participated in the greeting were : Mayor I.
E. Reeves, Judge Newton Hacker, R. M. May, Col. T.
H. Reeves, A. J. Patterson, S. H. Anderson, Capt. A. S.
Deaderick, James H. Epps, Jacob Leab, S. H. L. Cooper,
Judge A. J. Brown, John D. Cox, E. H. West, J. A. Feb-
uary, T. B. Hacker, R. N". Dosser, Capt. Geo. McPherson,
and Chancellor J. P. Smith.
General Harrison's allusion to John Sevier and his strug-
gle to establish the State of Franklin elicited hearty ap-
plause. He spoke as follows :
My Fellow -citizens — We tarry but a moment at this ancient and
interesting city, whose story goes back, I think, to the establish-
ment of the State of Franklin, of which perhaps not all of you,
certainly not these little ones, ever heard, which John Sevier
attempted to set up as an independent commonwealth.
But yet it is not of antiquity that I desire to speak, for ancient
history is not of* the greatest interest to you now. The Scripture
speaks, I think — my Postmaster-General is near, and if I fall into
error will correct me [laughter] — of a time when the old things
shall pass away and all things shall become new. Tennessee is
realizing that beatitude ; the old things, the old way of doing
things, the stiff clay and steep mountain roads have passed away
and the steam-car has come.
The old times of isolation in these valleys, when these pioneers,
some of whom I see, made their frontier homes, have passed away,
and influences from the outside have come ; life has been made
easier to men and easier to the toiling women who used to carry
the water from the spring at the bottom of the hill in a piggin,
but who now by modern appliances have it brought into the
kitchen.
You have come to know now that not only the surface of the soil
has wealth in it, but that under the surface there are vast sources
of wealth to gladden the homes of your people and to bring with
new industries a thrifty population. But of all these old things
296 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
that have passed away and the new ones that have come, I am
sure you are exultantly glad in this region, where there was so
much martyrdom for the flag, so much exile, so much suffering,
that the one Union, the one Constitution, and the one flag might
be preserved, to know that those old strifes have passed away, and
that a period of fraternity has come when all men are for the flag
and all for the Constitution, when it has been forever put out of
the minds of all people that this Union can be dissolved or this
Constitution overthrown. [Great cheering. ]
On all these new things I congratulate the citizens of Tennessee.
Turn your faces to the morning, for the sun is lightening the hill-
tops ; there is coming to our country a great growth, an extraor-
dinary development, and you are to be full participants in it all.
While other nations of the world have reached a climax in their
home development, and are struggling to parcel out remote regions
of the earth that their commerce may be extended, we have here
prodigious resources that are yet to be touched by the finger of
development, and we have the power, if we will, to put our flag
again on the sea and to share in the world's commerce. [Cheers.]
GREENVILLE, TENNESSEE, APRIL 14.
THE home of President Andrew Johnson — Greenville,
Tenn. — gave the President a cordial greeting through its
welcoming committee, consisting of Mayor John M. Brab-
son, Aldermen A. 1ST. Shown, J. D. Britton, E. C. Miller,
and W.H.Williams; also Burnside Post, G. A. R., W.
T. Mitchell Commander ; A. J. Frazier, and the children
of the public schools, in charge of Principal L. McWhisler.
President Harrison said :
My Fellow -citizens — The arrangements for our journey will not
permit me to tarry with you long. I thank you most sincerely for
this cordial demonstration. I rejoice to see in the hands of the
children here that banner of glory which is the symbol of our
greatness and the promise of our security.
I am glad that by the common consent of all our people, without
any regard to past differences, we have once and forever struck
hands upon the proposition that from the lakes to the gulf, from
the St. Lawrence to the Bay of California, there shall be one flag
and one Constitution. [Great cheering.] The story that it brings
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 297
to us from the time of its adoption as our national emblem is one
in which we may all find instruction and inspiration. It is the
flag of the free.
It symbolizes a government most aptly expressed by the greatest
statesman of the people, Abraham Lincoln, to be "a government
of the people, by the people, and for the people" — a government
that spreads a sky of hope above the head of every child, that lias
abolished all class distinctions, and has opened all places of emi-
nence and usefulness in the state and in commerce to the ambitious
and energetic young man.
This city has given to the country a conspicuous illustration in
your distinguished former fellow- citizen, Andrew Johnson, of what
free institutions may do, and what an aspiring young man may
do against all adverse conditions in life. To every one perfect
freedom is guaranteed within the limits of due respect to the rights
of others. Thanking you again for this presence and friendly
greeting, I bid you good-by.
MORRISTOWN, TENNESSEE, APRIL 14.
AT Morristown several thousand citizens and residents
of Hamblen, Cocke, Grainger, and Jefferson counties as-
sembled to greet the President. The Reception Commit-
tee was Mayor W. S. Dickson, R. L. Gaut, H. Williams,
W. H. Maze, A. S. Jenkins, and James A. Goddard. At
the conclusion of the President's speech an old grizzled
veteran stepped upon the platform, and reaching out his
hand said : " Mr. President, I was in that Atlanta campaign,
on the other side, and helped to keep you back, but now
the war is over I'm proud to take your hand." The Presi-
dent showed great pleasure at this greeting, and held the
old soldier's hand several minutes, the spectators mean-
while cheering lustily. A large number of ex- Confederates
witnessed this incident.
President Harrison's speech on the occasion was as
follows :
My Fellow citizens — It will not be possible for me to speak to you
for more than a moment, and yet I cannot refuse, in justice to my
298 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
own feelings, to express my deep appreciation of your cordial
reception. I visit to-day for the first time East Tennessee, but it
is a region in which I have always felt a profound interest and for
whose people I have always entertained a most sincere respect.
It seems to be true in the history of man that those who are
called to dwell among mountain peaks, in regions where the con-
vulsions of nature have lifted the rocks toward the sky, have
always been characterized by a personal independence of character,
by a devotion to liberty, and by courage in defence of their rights
and their homes. The legends that cluster about the mountain
peaks of Scotland and the patriotic devotion that makes memorable
the passes of Switzerland have been repeated in the mountains of
East Tennessee.
In those periods of great struggles; when communications were
difficult and often interrupted, the hearts of the people of Indiana
wTent out to the beleaguered friends of the Union beyond the Cum-
berland Gap. I am glad to know that it is no longer difficult to
reach you for succor or for friendly social intercourse, for travel
has been quickened arid made easy. Some one mentioned just now
that it was only four hours and a half from Chattanooga to Atlanta.
That is not my recollection [laughter] ; I think we spent as many
months making that trip. [Laughter.]
I am glad to know that now, by the consent of all your people,
without regard to the differences that separated you then, your
highways are open to all of us, without prejudice ; that your hearts
are true to the Union and the Constitution, and that the high sense
of public duty which then characterized you still abides among
your people. May your valleys be always full of prosperity, your
homes the abode of affection and love, and of all that makes the
American home the best of all homes and the sure nursery of good
citizens. [Cheers.]
KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE, APRIL 14.
ON the evening of the first day of the journey Knoxville
was reached. The distinguished travellers were welcomed
by a citizens' committee, composed of William Rule, Chair-
man ; Col. E. J. Sanford, Hon. J. C. J. Williams, Hon. L.
C. Houk, Col. J. Vandeventer, M. L. Ross, John T. Hearn,
Alex. Summers, Wm. M. Baxter, F. A. Moses, John W.
Conner, B. R. Strong, Hon. Peter Kern, Capt. W- P. Cham-
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 209
berlain, Col. J. B. Minnis, W. H. Simmonds, John L.
Hudiburg, Capt. A. J. Albers, Hon. J. W. Caldwell, and
W. P. Smith. After visiting Fort Sanders and viewing
the battle-field by twilight the party returned to the city,
where a vast audience was assembled.
Col. William A. Henderson introduced the President,
who spoke as follows :
My Fellow-citizens — It gives me pleasure to visit this historical
city — a city that has given to the country many men who have
been eminent in its councils and brought to the Nation they served
and to the people who called them into the public service great
honor. I am glad to visit East Tennessee, the scene of that early
immigration and of those early struggles of men who, for vigor of
intellect, strength of heart, and devotion to republican principles,
were among the most conspicuous of the early pioneers of the
West and Southwest.
I am glad to know that that deep devotion to the cause of the
Union which manifested itself in the early contributions of Ten-
nessee to the armies that went to the defence of the homes of the
Northwest abides still in these valleys and crowns with its glory
and lustre every hill -top of the Alleghanies. You are feeling now
a material development that is interesting and pleasing to all your
fellow-citizens of the States.
I beg to say to you that whoever supposes that there is anywhere
in the Northern States any jealousy of this great material progress
which the South is making wholly misconceives the friendly heart
of the people of the North. It is my wish, as I am sure it is the
wish of all with whom I associate in political life, that the streams
of prosperity in the South may run bank-full ; that in everything
that promotes the prosperity of the State, the security and comfort
of the community, and the happiness of the individual home, your
blessings may be full and unstinted.
We live in a Government of law. The compact of our organiza-
tion is that a majority of our people, taking those methods which
are prescribed by the Constitution and law, shall determine our
public policies and choose our rulers. It is our solemn compact ;
it cannot safely be broken. We may safely differ about policies ;
we may safely divide upon the question as to what shall be the
law ; but when the law is once enacted no community can safely
divide on the question of implicit obedience to the law.
It is the one rule of conduct for us all. I may not choose as
300 HAREISON'S SPEECHES.
President what laws I will enforce, and the citizen may not
choose what laws he will obey. Upon this broad principle our
institutions rest. If we save it, all the agitations and tumults of
our campaigns, exciting though they may be, will be harmless to
move our Government from its safe and abiding foundation.
If we abandon it, all is gone. Therefore, my appeal everywhere
is to hold the law in veneration and reverence. We have no other
king , public officers are your servants ; but in the august and
majestic presence of the law we all uncover and bow the knee.
May every prosperity attend you. May this ground, made mem-
orable by one of the most gallant assaults and by one of the most
successful defences in the story of the war, never again be stained
by blood ; but may our people, in one common love of one flag and
one Constitution, in a common and pervading fealty to the great
principles of our Government, go on to achieve material wealth,
and in social development, in intelligence, in piety, in everything
that makes a nation great and a people happy, secure all the Lord
has in His mind for a Nation that He has so conspicuously blessed.
[Great and prolonged cheering.]
CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE, APRIL 15.
CHATTANOOGA was reached Wednesday morning at 8 : 30
o'clock. The President was received with marked cor-
diality and enthusiasm by the several thousand citizens as-
sembled at the station. At this point the party was joined
by the President's younger brother, Mr. Carter B. Harrison,
and his wife, of Murfreesboro, Tenn. The following
prominent citizens comprised the committee that received
the President • Hon. J. B. Merriam, Mayor of Chattanoo-
ga; Hon. H. Clay Evans, Judge David M. Key, H. S.
Chamberlain, D. J. O'Connell, Henophen Wheeler, John
Crimmins, Maj. J. F. Shipp, Col. Tomlinson Fort, John
T. Wilder, Adolph S. Ochs, John B. Nicklin, L. G.
Walker, A. J. Gahagan, C. E. James, F. G. Montague, H.
M. Wiltse, John W. Stone, J. B. Pound, E. W. Mattson,
and Judge Whiteside.
The committee escorted the distinguished guests to the
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 301
summit of Lookout Mountain. At the Lookout Inn Pres-
ident Harrison pointed out to his immediate companions
the spot where he was encamped for a time during the war.
From the mountain the party was driven about the city,
which was profusely decorated. All the school children in
the city stood in front of their respective schools and waved
flags and shouted as the President and Mrs. Harrison
drove by. Assembled around the platform where the gen-
eral reception was held were many thousand people.
Ex-Congressman Evans, amid deafening cheers, intro-
duced the President, who said :
My Fellow -citizens — I have greatly enjoyed the opportunity of
seeing Chattanooga again. I saw it last as the camp of a great
army. Its only industries were military, its stores were munitions
of war, its pleasant hill-tops were torn with rifle-pits, its civic
population the attendants of an army campaign. I see it to-day a
great city, a prosperous commercial centre. I see these hill tops,
then bristling with guns, crowned with happy homes ; I see these
streets, through which the worn veterans of many campaigns then
marched, made glad with the presence of happy children. Every-
thing is changed.
The wand of an enchanter has touched these hills, and old Look-
out, that frowned over the valleys from which the plough had been
withdrawn, now looks upon the peaceful industries of countiy life.
All things are changed, except that the flag that then floated over
Chattanooga floats here still. [Cheers.] It has passed from the
hand of the veterans, who bore it to victory in battle, into the
hands of the children, who lift it as an emblem of peace. [Cheers. ]
Then Chattanooga was war's gateway to the South ; now it is the
gateway of peace, commerce, and prosperity. [Cheers. ]
There have been two conquests — one with arms, the other with
the gentle influences of peace— and the last is greater than the first.
[Cheers.] The first is only great as it made way for that which
followed ; and now, one again in our devotion to the Constitution
and the laws, one again in the determination that the question of
the severance of the federal relations of these States shall never
again be raised, we have started together upon a career of pros-
perity and development that has as yet given only the signs of
what is to come.
I congratulate Tennessee, I congratulate this prosperous city, I
302 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
congratulate all those who through this gateway give and receive
the interchanges of friendly commerce, that there is being wrought
throughout our country a unification by commerce, a unification
by similarity of institutions and habits, that shall in time erase
every vestige of difference, and shall make us, not only in con-
templation of the law, but in heart and sympathy, one people.
[Cheers. ]
I thank you for your cordial greeting to-day, and hope for the
development of the industries of our country and for the settling
of our institutions upon the firm base of a respect for the law. In
this glad springtime, while the gardens are full of blossoms and
the fields give promise of another harvest, and your homes are full
of happy children, let us thank God for what He has wrought for
us as a people, and, each in our place, resolutely maintain the
great idea upon which everything is bnilded — the rule of the
majority, constitutionally expressed, and the absolute equality of
all men before the law. [Cheers. ]
CARTERSVILLE, GEORGIA, APRIL 15.
THE first stop after crossing the Georgia State line was
Cartersville, where a citizens' committee, headed by M.
G. Dobbins, W. H. Howard, and Walter Akerman, re-
ceived the President, who in response to repeated calls
said:
My Friends — I am very much obliged to you for coming here in
this shower to show your good-will. I can only assure you that I
entirely reciprocate your good feelings. I have had great pleasure
to-day in passing over some parts of the old route that I took once
before under very different and distressing circumstances, to find
how easy it is, when we are all agreed, to travel between Chatta-
nooga and Atlanta. I am glad to see the evidences of prosperity
that abound through your country, and I wish you in all your
relations every human good. [Cheers. ]
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 303
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, APRIL 15.
"What War has ravaged Commerce can bestow,
And he returns a Friend who came a Foe. "
THE presidential party travelled over the Western and
Atlantic route from Chattanooga to Atlanta, passing
through historic battle-grounds with which the President
and other members of his party were once familiar. Gen-
eral Harrison actively participated in the Atlanta cam-
paign and held the chief command at the battle of Resaca.
It was with keen interest, therefore, that he viewed this
memorable field in company with Marshal Ransdell, who
lost an arm there. Short stops were made at the battle-fields
of Chickamauga, Tunnel Hill, Resaca, Dug Gap, and Ken-
nesaw. At Marietta the President was met by a committee
from the city government of Atlanta, consisting of Mayor
W. A. Hemphill, Aldermen Hutchison, Woodward, Rice,
Shropshire, and Middlebrooks ; Councilmen Murph}r, Hen-
drix, Lambert, Holbrook, Sawtell, King, Turner, McBride,
and City Clerk Woodward. These officials were ac-
companied by a special committee of citizens representing
the Chamber of Commerce and the veteran associations,
comprising ex-Gov. R. B. Bullock, Gen. J. R. Lewis, Capt.
John Milledge, Julius L. Brown, S. M. Inman, Hon. J. T.
Glenn, and Hon. W. L. Calhoun.
A vast throng greeted the President's arrival. Gov.
William J. Northen and the other members of the Recep-
tion Committee received the party. Governor Northen
said : " I am glad to welcome your excellency to the
State of Georgia. You will find among us a loyal and
hospitable people, and in their name I welcome you to the
State."
Replying, the President said it gave him great pleasure
to visit the Empire State of the South, the wonderful evi-
dences of the prosperity of which were manifest in the stir-
ring city of Atlanta.
304 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
In the evening the President and his party were tendered
a reception at the Capitol by Governor JSTorthen and Mayor
Hemphill, assisted by Chief- Justice Bleckley, Judge Sim-
mons, Judge Lumpkin, Gen. Phil. Cook, Comptroller-
General Wright, Judge Van Epps, and the following
prominent citizens : E. P. Chamberlin, J. W. Rankin, G.
T. Dodd, Judge Hook, R. J. Lowry, J. W. English, Hoke
Smith, Phil. Breitenbucher, J. G. Oglesby, John Silvey,
Capt. Harry Jackson, Jacob Haas, W. L. Peel, B. F. Ab-
bott, John Fitten, Joe Hirsch, George Hillyer, A. A. Mur-
phy, P. Romare, J. B. Goodwin, David Wyly, G. H. Tan-
ner, Dr. Henry S. Wilson, J. F. Edwards, M. A. Hardin,
A. J. McBride, John J. Doonan, Hugh Inman, J. H. Moun-
tain, M. C. Kiser, E. P. Howell, A. E. Buck, Edgar
Angier, Col. L. M. Terrell, S. A. Darnell, John C. Manly,
T. B. Neal, Walter Johnson, Major Minis, W. R. Brown,
Col. T. P. Westmoreland, Albert Cox, Clarence Knowles,
H. M. Atkinson, J. C. Kimball, C. A. Collier, Rhode Hill,
Howard Van Epps, W. H. Venable, G. W. Adair, F. T.
Ryan, L. P. Thomas, H. F, Starke, W. A. Wright, Amos
Fox, R. L. Rodgers, H. C. Divine, W. M. Scott, A. B. Car-
rier, W. B. Miles, T. C. Watson, and L. B. Nelson.
At the conclusion of the reception the President, accom-
panied by Mayor Hemphill, Hon. A. L. Kontz, and Super-
intendent Slaton, visited the night school, where the boys
gave him an enthusiastic welcome and called for a speech.
The President said :
I am glad to be with you to-night. Having but a few minutes
to spare I would offer a few words of encouragement to you. Most,
if not all, of you are here at night because your circumstances are
such that the day must be given to toil. The day is your earning
period. The night must, therefore, be set apart for study. I am
glad to see that so many find it in your hearts to be here in this
school ; it is a very hopeful sign. I think it has in it the promise
that you will each become a useful citizen in this country. Pluck
and energy are two essential elements. A boy wants to be some-
thing. With pluck and energy success is assured. There is a
day of hope above every one of you.
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 305
I bid you good cheer and would offer encouragement to every
one of you, and I know every one of you may be useful and hon-
orable citizens in this community, whose officers have taken the
interest to organize this school for your benefit, I very sincerely
and earnestly wish you God -speed. Stick to your studies and
don't neglect to acquire a needful education, and you may one day
occupy the positions of honor which are held by those to-day in
charge of the affairs of your city.
ATLANTA, APRIL 16.
ON the morning of the 16th the President's party
bade adieu to Atlanta. More than 10,000 people were
present. Mayor Hemphill invited the President to the
rear platform of the train and presented him to the assem-
blage. In response to their cheers he said :
My Fellow -citizens — I desire, in parting from you, to give public
expression of my satisfaction and enjoyment in my brief visit to
Atlanta. I saw this city once under circumstances of a very unfa-
vorable character. I did not think I would like it, although we
\vere making great efforts to get it. [Laughter. ] I am glad after
all these years to see the great prosperity and development that has
come to you. I think I am able to understand some of the influ-
ences that are at the bottom of it, and I am sure that I look into
the faces of a community that, whatever their differences may
have been, however they viewed the question of the war when it
was upon us, can have but one thought as to what was best. We
can all say with the Confederate soldier who carried a gun for
what seemed to him to be right, that God knew better than any of
us what was best for the country and for the world.
You are thankful for what He has wrought and chiefly for eman-
cipation. It has opened up to diversified industries these States
that were otherwise exclusively agricultural, and made it possible
for you not only to raise cotton, but to spin and weave it, and has
made Georgia such a State as it could not have been under the old
conditions. I am sure we have many common purposes, and as
God shall give us power to see truth and right, let us do our duty,
and, while exacting all our own rights, let us bravely and gen-
erously give every other man his equal rights before the law.
[Cheers. ]
Thanking you for your reception, which has been warm and
20
306 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
hospitable, I go from you very grateful for your kindness and very
full of hope for your future.
I cannot wish more than that those enterprising land-owners
whose work in grading and laying new additions I saw yesterday
will realize all their hopes. I am very sure if that is done Atlanta
will not long be rated the second city of the South. [Cheers.]
At the conclusion of the President's address there were
many calls for Mr. Wanamaker. These finally brought
the Postmaster-General to the platform, who said :
That man is unfortunate who is called on to speak after a Presi-
dent. But at such a moment as this, parting from people who in
a single night have shown so much kindness and good-fellowship,
it is not difficult to return at least our grateful thanks for your
most generous welcome. Of all objects in your city I have looked
with most interest upon the house where a great light had gone
out, and felt again the common sorrow in the absence of Hemy
Grady, a man whose life and influences were larger than Atlanta.
The words he spoke and the principles he stood for cannot be for-
gotten. If we can but learn to know each other and understand
each other there will be fewer differences than might be supposed.
By more frequent intercourse and a fairer consideration of each
other we should rise to a higher level of happiness. I wish we had
come sooner and could stay longer. [Cheers.]
TALLAPOOSA, GEORGIA, APRIL 16.
THE city of Tallapoosa was bedecked with flags and
bunting in honor of the distinguished visitors, and gave
the President a cordial reception. Mayor A. J. Head and
the following representative citizens were among those
who greeted the Chief Executive: James H. Rineard,
Walker Brock, U. G. Brock, J. A. Head, R. M. Strickland,
J. C. Parker, W. T. King, R. G. Bently, T. J. Barrett, J.
T. Tuggle, R. J. McBride, G. W. Bullard, C. Tallafario, J.
A. Burns, J. R. Knapp, C. W. Fox, M. C. Reeve, M. Mun-
son, W. W. Summerlin, S. J. Cason, J. H. Davis, S. White,
A. Hass, T. L. Dougherty, G. A. Stickney, N. L. Hutchens,
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 307
O. F. Sampson, H. Martin, M. C. Haiston, G. W. Tumlin,
and J. C. Murrey.
Responding to the welcoming cheers the President ad-
dressed the assembly as follows :
My Fellow- citizens — This large assemblage of people from this
new and energetic city is very pleasant, and I thank you for the
welcome that it implies. All of these evidences of extending
industry are extremely pleasing to me as I observe them. They
furnish employment to men ; they imply comfortable homes, con-
tented families, a safe social organization, and are the strength of
the Nation.
I am glad to see that these enterprises that are taking the ores
from the earth and adapting them to the uses of civilization have
not been started here unaccompanied by that more important work
—the work of gathering the children into the schools and instruct-
ing them, that they in their turn may be useful men and women.
[Applause.] I am glad to greet these little ones this morning; it
is a cheerful sight. We are soon to lay down the work of life and
the responsibilities of citizenship , these mothers are soon to quit
the ever-recurring and never-ending work of the home and give it
into new hands.
It is of the utmost consequence that these little ones be trained
in mind and taught the fear of God and a benevolent regard for
their fellow- men, in order that their lives and social relations may
be peaceful and happy. We are citizens of one country, having
one flag and one destiny. We are starting upon a new era of
development, and 1 hope this development is to keep pace and to
be the promoting cause of a very perfect unification of our people.
[Cheers. ]
We have a Government whose principles are very simple and
very popular. The whole theory of our institutions is that, pursu-
ing those election methods which we have prescribed under the
Constitution, every man shall exercise freely the right that the
suffrage law confides to him, and that the majority, if it has
expressed its will, shall conclude the issue for us all. There is no
other foundation. This was the enduring base upon which the
fathers of our country placed our institutions. Let us always keep
them there. Let us press the debate in our campaigns as to what
the law should be; but let us keep faith and submit with the rev-
erence and respect which are due to tlhe law when once lawfully
enacted. [Applause.]
The development which is coming to you in these regions of the
308 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
South is marvellous. In ten years you increased your production
of iron about 300 per cent.— nearly a million and a quarter of tons
— and you have only begun to open these mines and to put these
ores to the process of reduction. Now, I want to leave this thought
with you : In the old plantations of the South you got everything
from somewhere else ; why not make it all yourselves ? [Cheers. ]
ANNISTON, ALABAMA, APRIL 16.
MANY thousands greeted the President on his arrival at
Anniston. The Reception Committee consisted of Mayor
James Noble, J. W. Lapsley, H. W. Bailey, T. G. Garrett,
B. F. Cassady, John J. Mickle, C. H. Camfield, J. J. Wil-
lett, J. C. Sproull, R. H. Cobb, I. Finch, and Alex. S.
Thweatt. The committee appointed by the Alabama State
Sunday- School Association, then in session, was : Joseph
Hardie, Geo. B. Eager, P. P. Winn, M. J. Greene, and C.
W. O'Hare. On the part of the colored citizens the Com-
mittee of Reception was : Rev. W. H. McAlpine, Wm. J.
Stevens, S. E. Moses, Rev. J. F. Fitspatrick, and Rev.
Jas. W. Brown. Daniel Tyler Post, G. A. R., H. Rosen-
baum, Commander, G. B. Randolph acting Adjutant, also
participated. The Hon. John M. McKleroy delivered the
address of welcome, followed by Wm. J. Stevens in behalf
of the colored people.
President Harrison responded as follows :
Fellow -citizens — I very much regret that I am able to make so
little return to you for this cordial manifestation of your respect
and friendship ; and yet, even in these few moments which I am
able to spend with you, I hope I shall gather and possibly be able
to impart some impulse that may be mutually beneficial. I am
glad to see with the eye that of which I have kept informed — the
great development which is taking place in the mineral regions
of the Southern States.
I remember, as a boy, resident upon one of the great tributaries
of the Mississippi, how the agricultural products of those States,
the corn and provisions raised upon the fertile acres of the Ohio
and Mississippi valleys, were marketed in the South. The old
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 309
broad-horn took its way down the Mississippi, stopping at the
plantations to sell the provisions upon which the people of the
South were largely sustained. The South was then essentially a
plantation region, producing one or two great staples that found a
ready market in the world, but dependent for its implements of
industry and domestic utensils upon the States of the North
Mississippi Valley.
I am glad all this is changed, that you are realizing the benefits
of diversified agriculture, and that the production upon your farms
of the staples which you once bought elsewhere is largely increas-
ing ; and I am glad that to diversified agriculture you have also
added these great mechanical pursuits which have brought into
your communities artisans and laborers who take from the adjacent
farms the surplus of your fertile lands. [Cheers.] There has been
received in the South since the war not less than $8, 000, 000, 000 for
cotton , and while I rejoice in that, I am glad to know that in this
generous region there are near 100, 000 acres devoted to raising
watermelons. [Laughter. ]
No farmer, certainly no planter in the old time, would have con-
sented to sell watermelons. You are learning that things which
were small and despised have come to be great elements in your
commerce. Now your railroads make special provision for the
transportation of a crop which brings large wrealth to your people.
I mention this as a good illustration of the changing conditions
into which you are entering. You are realizing the benefits of
home markets for what you produce, and I am sure you will unite
with me in those efforts which we ought to make, not only to fill
our own markets with all that this great Nation of 65,000,000 needs,
but to reach out to other markets and enter into competition with
the world for them. [Cheers.] This we shall do, and with all
this mechanical and commercial development we shall realize
largely that condition of unification of heart and interest to which
those who have spoken for you have so eloquently alluded.
[Cheers.]
And now, wishing that the expectations of all who are interested
in this stirring young city may be realized, that all your industries
may be active and profitable, I add the wish that those gentler and
kindlier agencies of the school and church, of a friendly social life,
may always pervade and abide with you as a community. [Cheers. ]
310 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA, APRIL 16.
LARGE delegations came from Mobile, Selma, Montgom-
ery, Sheffield, and other points in Alabama, to participate
in the grand ovation tendered President Harrison and his
party at Birmingham on April 1C. Gov. Thomas G. Jones
and the following members of his staff welcomed the pres-
idential party at Henry ellen : Adjt.-Gen. Charles B. Jones,
Col. F. L. Pettus, Col. Eugene Stolleriwerck, Col. M. P. Le
Grand, Col. W. W. Quarles, Col. B. L. Holt, Lieut. James
B. Erwin, and J. K. Jackson, Secretary to the Governor.
The Governor's party was accompanied by five members
from the Citizens' Committee : Col. E. T. Taliaferro, Rufus
N". Rhodes, J. W. Hughes, R. L. Houston, and C. A. John-
ston.
On arrival at Birmingham, in the afternoon, the Presi-
dent was greeted by an enormous gathering and formally
welcomed by Mayor A. O. Lane at the head of the follow-
ing distinguished committee: H. M. Caldwell, Joseph F.
Johnston, B. L. Hibbard, William Youngblood, W. J.
Cameron, J. A. Van Hoose, R. H. Pearson, E. H. Barron,
M. M. Williams, J. O. Wright, James Weatherly, Chappell
Cory, Louis Saks, D. D. Smith, J. P. Mudd, Charles M.
Shelley, Paul Giacopazzi, James A. Going, Joe Frank, T.
H. Spencer, P. G. Bowman, J. M. Martin, G. W. Hewitt,
T. T. Hillman, E. Soloman, F. P. O'Brien, Lewis M. Par-
sons, Robert Jemison, John McQueen, Geo. L. Morris, B.
Steiner, Mack Sloss, J. A. Yeates, J. M. Handley, Fergus
W. McCarthy, E. V. Gregory, F. H. Armstrong, Geo. M.
Morrow, Thomas Seddon, E. W. Rucker, W. H. Graves,
Gus Shillinger, M. T. Porter, Edwin C. Campbell, Eugene
F. Enslen, R. L. Thornton, Charles Whelan, W. S. Brown,
John M. Cartin, Wm. M. Bethea, I. R. Hochstadter, John
W. Johnston, Wm. Vaughn, Jas. E. Webb, and Robert
Warnock. George A. Ouster Post, G. A. R., commanded
by Ass't Adjt.-Gen. W. J. Pender, escorted the President
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 311
on the march through the city. The following officers par-
ticipated: W. H. Hunter, Department Commander; F. G.
Sheppard, Past Department Commander; William Sny-
der, Commander ; A. A. Tyler, Senior Vice-Commander ;
Henry Asa N. Ballard, Surgeon; Edward Birchenough,
Assistant Quartermaster-General; A. W. Fulghum, Past
Commander; and John Mackenzie, Officer of the Day.
Both the Governor and the Mayor delivered eloquent
addresses of welcome, to which President Harrison re-
sponded as follows :
Governor Jones, Mr. Mayor, and Fellow-citizens — The noise of
your industries will not stay itself, I fear, sufficiently to enable me
to make myself heard by many in this immense throng that has
gathered to welcome us. I judge from what we have seen as we
neared your station that we have here at Birmingham the largest
and most enthusiastic concourse of people that has met us since we
left the national capital. [Great and prolonged cheering.] For
all this I am deeply grateful. The rapidity with which we must
pursue this journey will not allow us to look with any detail into
the great enterprises which cluster about your city ; but if we shall
only have opportunity to see for a moment these friendly faces
and listen to these friendly words, we shall carry away that which
will be invaluable, and, I trust, by the friendly exchange of greet-
ings, may leave something to you that is worth cherishing. [Great
cheering. ] I have read of the marvellous development which, in
the last few years, has been stirring the solitude of these southern
mountains, and I remember that not many years after the war,
when I had resumed my law practice at Indianapolis, I was visited
by a gentleman, known, I expect, to all of you, upon some profes-
sional business. He came to pursue a collection claim against a
citizen of Indiana ; but he seemed to be more interested in talking
about Birmingham than anything else. [Laughter and cheers.]
That man was Colonel Powell, one of the early promoters of your
city. [Cheers. ] I listened to his story of the marvellous wealth
of iron and coal that was stored in this region ; of their nearness
to each other, and to the limestone necessary for smelting ; to his
calculations as to the cheapness with which iron could be produced
here, and his glowring story of the great city that was to be reared,
with a good deal of incredulity. I thought he was a visionary ; but
I have regretted ever since that I did not ask him to pay me my
fee in town lots in Birmingham. [Laughter and cheers.]
312 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
My countrymen, we thought the war a great calamity, and so It
was. The destruction of life and of property was sad beyond
expression ; and yet we can see now that God led us through that
Red Sea to a development in material prosperity and to a fraternity
that was not otherwise possible. [Cheers.] The industries that
have called to your midst so many toiling men are always and
everywhere the concomitants of freedom. Out of all this freedom
from the incubus of slavery the South has found a new industrial
birth. Once almost wholly agricultural, you are now not the less
fruitful in crops, but you have added all this. [Cheers.] You
have increased your production of cotton, and have added an in-
crease in ten years of nearly 300 per cent, in the production of
iron. You have produced three- fourths of the cotton crop of the
world, and it has brought you since the war about $8, 000, 000, 000
of money to enrich your people. But as yet you are spinning in
the South only 8 per cent, of it. Why not, with the help we will
give you in New England and the North, spin it all? [Cheers.]
Why not establish here cotton mills that shall send, not the crude
agricultural product to other markets, but the manufactured prod-
uct? [Cheers.] Why not, while supplying 65,000,000 of people,
reach out and take a part we have not had in the commerce of the
world ? [Cheers. ] I believe we are to see now a renaissance in
American prosperity and in the up- building again of our Ameri-
can merchant marine. [Cheers.] I believe .that these Southern
ports that so favorably look out with invitations to the States of
Central and South America shall yet see our fleets carrying the
American flag and the products of Alabama to the markets of South
America. [Great cheering.]
In all this we are united ; we may differ as to method, but if
you will permit me I will give an illustration to show how we
have been dealing with this shipping question. I can remember
when no wholesale merchant ever sent a drummer into the field.
He said to his customers, " Come to my store and buy ;" but com-
petition increased and the enterprising merchant started out men
to seek customers ; and so his fellow-merchant was put to the
choice to put travelling men into the field or to go out of business.
It seems to me, whatever we may think of the policy of aiding
our steamship lines, that since every other great nation does it, we
must do it or stay out of business, for we have pretty much gone
out. [Cheers.] I am glad to reciprocate with the very fulness of
my heart every fraternal expression that has fallen from the lips of
these gentlemen who have addressed me in your behalf. [Cheers. ]
I have not been saved from mistakes ; probably I shall not be. I
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 313
am sure of but one thing— I can declare that I have simply at
heart the glory of the American Nation and the good of all its
people. [Great and prolonged cheering.] I thank these companies
of the State militia, one of whom I recognize as having done me
the honor to attend the inaugural ceremony, for their presence.
They are deserving, sir [to the Governor], of your encouragement
and that of the State of Alabama. They are the reserve army of
the United States. It is our policy not to have a large regular
army, but to have a trained militia that, in any exigency, will
step to the defence of the country ; and if that exigency shall ever
arise — which God forbid — I know that you would respond as
quickly and readily as any other State. [Cheers.] [The Gov-
ernor : "You will find all Alabama at your back, sir !"] [Continued
cheering. ]
I am glad to know that in addition to all this business you are
doing you are also attending to education and to those things that
conduce to social order. The American home is the one thing we
cannot afford to lose out of the American life. [Cheers. ] As long
as we have pure homes and God-fearing, order-loving fathers and
mothers to rear the children that are given to them, and to make
these homes the abodes of order, cleanliness, piety, and intelli-
gence, the American society and the American Union are safe
[Great cheering. ]
After the parade the President's party, the Governor
and staff, and the citizens' Reception Committee sat down
to luncheon. On the right of the President was Mrs. Jones,
wife of the Governor ; on his left, Mrs. Lane, wife of the
Mayor. Mr. Rufus N. Rhodes proposed the health of the
President of the United States, to which General Harrison
responded briefly, saying:
We have seen something of the marvellous material growth of Bir-
mingham, and seen evidence of the great richness of your " black
diamonds" and your iron, and now we see something of your home
life. The many beautiful women whom we have had the happiness
to meet, and some of whom are now with us, are the angels of
your homes, and right glad we are to be favored by their presence.
After all, it is their homes which make a people great. We are
glad to be here ; for, really, you overwhelm us with kindness.
[Long -continued applause.]
314 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE, APRIL 17.
THE presidential party arrived at Memphis early on
the morning of the 17th and were greeted by 10,000
people. The committee for the reception and entertain-
ment of President Harrison and his guests comprised the
following prominent citizens : Lucas W. Clapp, president
of the taxing district of Memphis, Chairman; H. M. Neely,
M. Cooper, J. P. Jordan, B. M. Stratton, R. C. Graves, D.
P. Hadden, R. F. Patterson, Wm. M. Randolph, John K.
Speed, John R. Godwin, Sam Tate, Jr., N. W. Speers,
Jr., Josiah Patterson, W. J.Crawford, Martin Kelly, John
League, J. M. Keating, J. Harvey Mathes, A. B. Pickett,
W. J. Smith, Emerson Etheridge, T. J. Lathan, A. D.
Gwynne, R. D. Frayser, J. T. Fargason, Samuel W.
Hawkins, T. J. Graham, B. M. Estes, S. R. Montgomery,
W. A. Collier, A. C. Treadwell, F. M. ISTorfleet, Alfred G.
Tuther, W. D. Beard, S. H. Haines, R. J. Morgan, Louis
Erb, Dr. J. P. Alban, W. A. Gage, J. N. Snowden, John T.
Moss, Thomas F. Tobin, J. S. Robinson, James Ralston,
L. B. Eaton, John W. Dillard, J. M. Semmes, M. T. Will-
iamson, Andrew J. Harris, R. S. Capers, L. H. Estes, J. J.
DuBose, J. B. Clough, J. E. Bigelow, George Arnold, T.
B. Edgington, Luke E. Wright, D. T. Porter, J. T. Pettit,
Napoleon Hill, E. S. Hammond, Wm. R. Moore, G. C.
Matthews, Colton Greene, Isham G. Harris, J. A. Taylor,
P. M. Winters, Holmes Cummins, E. Lowenstein, J. S.
Menken, A. Vaccaro, N. M. Jones, R. B. Snowden, W. M.
Farrington, Barney Hughes, J. H. Smith, Noland Fon-
taine, J. H. Martin, J. C. Neely, Robert Gates, James W.
Brown, G. E. Dunbar, J. W. Falls, S. C. Toof, W. H. Car- •
roll, S. P. Read, H. G. Harrington, H. F. Dix, J. S. Gallo-
way, T. W. Brown, H. J. Lynn, J. W. Person, H. B. Cul-
len, S. W. Green, P. J. Quigley, T. J. Brogan, M. C.
Gallaway, W. E. McGuire, Ralph Davis, J. J. Williams,
T. A. Hamilton, E. B. McHenry, George B. Peters, John
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 315
L. Norton, W. H. Bates, M. T. Garvin, S. H. Dunscomb,
F. H. White, and R. D. Jordan.
The following military committee also assisted : Gen.
S. F. Carnes, Chairman ; Col. Kellar Anderson, Col. Hugh
Pettit, Maj. J. F. Peters, Col. W. F. Taylor, Col. L. W.
Finley, Gen. A. J. Vaughn, Gen. G. W. Gordon, and Gen.
R. F. Patterson.
Chairman Clapp made the address of welcome. Presi-
dent Harrison responded as follows :
My Fellow -citizens — The name of the city of Memphis was famil-
iar to me in my early boyhood. Born and reared upon one of the
tributaries of the great river upon which your city is located,
these river marts of commerce were the familiar trading-posts of
the farmers of the Ohio Valley. I well remember when, on the
shores of father's farm, the old "broad -horn" was loaded from the
hay-press and the corn-crib to market with the plantations along
the Lower Mississippi. I remember to have heard from him and
the neighbors who constituted the crew of those pioneer craft of
river navigation of the perils of these great waters ; of the snags
and caving banks of the Lower Mississippi. In those times these
States were largely supplied with grain and forage from the North-
western States. Here you were giving your attention to one or
two great staple products, for which you found a large foreign
market. I congratulate you that the progress of events has made
you not less agricultural, but has diversified your agriculture so
that you are not now wholly dependent upon these great staples for
the income of your farms.
The benefits of this diversification are very great and the change
symbolizes more than we at first realize. This change means that
we are now coming to understand that meanness cannot be predi-
cated of any honest industry. I rejoice that you are adding to
diversified agriculture diversified manufacturing pursuits ; that
you are turning your thought to compressing and spinning cotton
as well as raising it. I know no reason why these cotton States,
that produce 75 per cent, of the cotton of the world, should not spin
the greater portion of it. I know no reason why they should
export it as raw material, rather than as a manufactured product,
holding in their midst the profits of this transformation of the raw
material to the finished product. [Applause. ]
I hope it may be so. I see evidence that the people are turning
their attention to new industries, and are bringing into the midst;
316 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
of these farming communities a large population of artisans and
laborers to consume at your own doors the product of your farms.
I am glad that a liberal Government is making this great waterway
to the sea safe and capable of an uninterrupted use. I am glad
that it is here making the shores of your own city convenient and
safe, and that it is opening, north and south, an uninterrupted
and cheap transportation for the products of these lauds that lie
along this great system of rivers. I am glad that it is bringing
you in contact with ports of the Gulf that look out with near and
inviting aspect toward a great trade in South America that we
shall soon possess. I am glad to believe that these great river
towns will speedily exchange their burdens with American ships
at the mouth of the Mississippi to be transported to foreign ports
under the flag of our country. [Great cheering. ]
This Government of ours is a compact of the people to be gov-
erned by a majority, expressing itself by lawful methods. [Cheers. ]
Everything in this country is to be brought to the measure of the
law. I propose no other rule, either as an individual or as a pub-
lic officer. I cannot in any degree let down this rule [cries of
"No !" and cheers] without violating my official duty. There must
be no other supremacy than that of lawful majorities. We must
all come at last to this conclusion — that the supremacy of the law
is the one supremacy in this country of ours. [Cheers. ]
Now, my fellow citizens, I thank you for this warm and mag-
nificent demonstration of your respect, accepting cordially the
expression of the chief of your city Government that you are a
sincere, earnest, patriotic, devoted people. I beg to leave with
you the suggestion that each in his place shall do what he can to
maintain social order and public peace ; that the lines here and
everywhere shall be between the well-disposed and the ill-disposed.
The effort of' speech to this immense throng is too great for me.
I beg to assure you that I carry from the great war no sentiment
of ill-will to any. [Cheers.] I am glad that the Confederate
soldier, confessing that defeat which has brought him blessings
that would have been impossible otherwise, has been taken again
into full participation in the administration of the Government ;
that no penalties, limitations, or other inflictions rest upon him.
I have taken and can always take the hand of a brave Confederate
soldier with confidence and respect. [Great cheering.]
I w^ould put him under one yoke only, and that is the yoke that
the victors in that struggle bore when they went home and laid off
their uniforms — the yoke of the law and the obligation always to
obey it. [Cheers.] Upon that platform, without distinction be-
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 317
tween the victors and the vanquished, we enter together upon
possibilities as a people that we cannot overestimate. I believe
the Nation is lifting itself to a new life ; that this flag shall float
on unfamiliar seas, and that this coming prosperity will be equally
shared by all our people. [Prolonged cheering. ]
LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS, APRIL 17.
As the presidential party crossed the Mississippi they
were met on the Arkansas shore by Gov. James P. Eagle
and wife, Judge John A. Williams, Mayor H. L. Fletcher,
James Mitchell, Col. Logan H. Roots, Mrs. Judge Cald-
well, Mrs. C. C. Waters, Mrs. Wm. G. Whipple, Mrs. W.
C. Ratcliffe, Miss Jean Loughborough, and Miss Fannie
Mitchell. Arriving at Little Rock, late in the afternoon,
the President was welcomed by Hon. Josiah H. Shinn, R.
A. Edgerton, Chas. C. Waters, B. D. Caldwell, W. A.
Clark, H. F. Roberts, T. H. Jones, and the other members
of the Committee of Reception. McPhersoii and Ord
posts, G. A. R., in charge of Marshal O. M. Spellman, Lee
Clough, and C. Altenberg, acted as escort to the President,
accompanied by the McCarthy Light Guards. The parade
was in charge of Grand Marshal Zeb Ward, Jr., assisted
by Col. W. T. Kelley, Horace G. Allis, and Oscar Davis.
The Lincoln Club, commanded by P. Raleigh and P. C.
Dooley, participated in the reception. At the State House
Governor Eagle formally welcomed the distinguished
travellers.
President Harrison replied :
Governor Eagle and Fellow-citizens — No voice is large enough to
compass this immense throng. But my heart is large enough to
receive all the gladness and joy of your great welcome here to-day.
[Applause.] I thank you one and all for your presence, for the
kind words of greeting which have been spoken by your Governor,
and for these kind faces turned to me. In all this I see a great
fraternity ; in all this I feel new impulses to a better discharge of
every public and every private duty. I cannot but feel that in
318 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
consequence of this brief contact with you to-day I shall carry
away a better knowledge of your State, its resources, its capabili-
ties, and of the generous warm-heartedness of its people. We
have a country whose greatness this meeting evidences, for there
are here assembled masses of independent men. The commonwealth
rests upon the free suffrage of its citizens and their devotion to the
Constitution, and the flag is the bulwark of its life. [Cheers.]
We have agreed, I am sure, that we will do no more fighting
among ourselves. [Cries of "Good! good! "and cheers.] I may
say to you confidentially that Senator Jones and I agreed several
years ago, after observing together the rifle practice at Fort Snell-
ing, that shooting had been reduced to such accuracy that war
was too dangerous for either of us to engage in it. [Laughter and
cheers. ] But, my friends, I cannot prolong this talk. Once already
to-day in the dampness of this atmosphere I have attempted to
speak, and therefore you will allow me to conclude by wishing for
your State, for its Governor and all its public officers, for all its
citizens without exception, high or humble, the blessing of social
order, peace, and prosperity— the fruits of intelligence and piety.
[Great cheering.]
TEXARKANA, ARKANSAS, APRIL 17.
NOTWITHSTANDING it was nearly midnight when the
presidential train reached Texarkana, about 2,000 citizens
were present. Foremost in the movement to give a fitting
reception to the President were : George H. Langsdale,
Robert Langsdale, Richard Brunazzi, and Edward Don-
nelly. Among other well-known citizens present were
Lyman S. Roach, Commander of Dick Ya,tes Post, G. A.
R. ; Ira A Church, J. A. Mifflin, Wm. Rhinders, W. F.
Loren, W. W. Shaw, Fred A. Church, J. P. Ashcraft,
Wm. H. Bush, A. B. Matson, W. W. De Prato, T. P. Mc-
Calla, J. W. Hatcher, John McKenna, Peter Gable, John
Mayher, Martin Foster, J. K. Langsdale, and F. L.
Schuster.
The President spoke briefly and said :
Having had notice of your request that we stop here for a few
moments, I have remained up in order to thank you for your
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 319
expressed interest and for this very large and cordial demonstra-
tion. I have spoken several times during the day, and am sure
you will excuse me from attempting now, at midnight, to make a
speech. I hope that prosperity is here and that it may abide with
you. Thanking you again, 1 bid you good-night.
PALESTINE, TEXAS, APRIL 18.
THE first stop in the Lone Star State was at Palestine,
where the President received a royal welcome, the popula-
tion of the city turning out to do him honor. His excel-
lency Gov. James S. Hogg cordially greeted the President
at this point. Hon. John H. Reagan, Hon. Geo. A.
Wright, Mayor of Palestine, and the City Council in a
body, constituted the Committee of Reception, together
with the following prominent residents : Capt. T. T. Gam-
mage, A. H. Bailey, Geo. E. Dilley, K R. Royall, W. C.
Kendall, A. Teah, J. R. Hearne, J. W. Ozment, P. W.
Ezell, O. B. Sawyers, G. "W. Burkitt, W. M. Lacy, Henry
Ash, A. C. Green, A. R. Howard, A. L. Bowers, D. W.
Heath, Wm. Broyles, John J. Word, E. R. Kersh, R. J.
Wallace, J. M. Fullinwider, Rev. E. F. Fales and Mrs.
Fales, who welcomed her distinguished brother Postmas-
ter-General Wanamaker.
Governor Hogg made the formal address of welcome, to
which the President responded as follows :
Governor Hogg and Fellow -citizens — It gives me pleasure to come
this fresh morning into this great State— a kingdom without a
king, an empire without an emperor, a State gigantic in propor-
tions and matchless in resources, with diversified industries and
infinite capacities to sustain a tremendous population and to bring
to every home where industry abides prosperity and comfort. Such
homes, I am sure, are represented here this morning — the Ameri
can home, where the father abides in the respect and the mother
in the deep love of the children that sit about the fireside ; where
all that makes us good is taught and the first rudiments of obedi
ence to law, of orderly relations one to another, are put into the
young minds. Out of this comes social order : on this rests the
320 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
security of our country. The home is the training-school for
American citizenship. There we learn to defer to others; selfish-
ness is suppressed by the needs of those about us. There self-sacri-
fice, love, and willingness to give ourselves for others are born.
I thank you that so many of you have come here this morning
from such homes, and all of us are thankful together that peace
rests upon our whole country. All of us have pledged ourselves
that no sectional strife shall ever divide us, and that while abiding
in peace with all the world we are, against all aggression, one
mighty, united people. [Cheers. ]
I desire to assure you, my countrymen, that in my heart I make
no distinction between our people anywhere. [Cheers. ] I have a
deep desire that everywhere in all our States there shall be that
profound respect for the will of the majority, expressed by our
voters, that shall bring constant peace into all our communities.
It is very kind of you to come here this morning before breakfast.
Perhaps you are initiating me into the Texas habit — is it so? — of
taking something before breakfast. [Laughter and cheers.] This
exhilarating draught of good-will you have given me this morn-
ing will not, I am sure, disturb either iny digestion or comfort
during this day. [Cheers.]
HOUSTON, TEXAS, APRIL 18.
THE presidential party reached Houston at noon on
April 18 and were greeted by an enthusiastic assemblage
estimated at 20,000. The welcoming committee, headed
by Mayor Scherffius, comprised the following-named prom-
inent citizens: Hon. Charles Stewart, Geo. A. Race, J.
W. Temby, Maj. R. B. Baer, A. K. Taylor, Col. John T.
Brady, W. D. Cleveland, D. C. Smith, C. Lombardi, Dr.
E. F. Schmidt, Capt, J. C. Hutcheson, T. W. House, S. K.
Dick, W. B. Chew, James F. Dumble, R. B. Morris, James
A. Patton, Jr., A. P. Root, W. V. R. Watson, G. W. Kidd,
G. C. Felton, H. W. Garrow, Geo. E. Dickey, F. Halff,
John F. Dickson, E. W. Cave, Charles Dillingham, A. 0.
Herndon, J. W. Jones, D. M. Angle, Geo. L. Porter, Rufus
Cage, F. A. Rice, Dr. D. F. Stuart, and President Mitchell,
of the Commercial Club. Many prominent ladies of the
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 321
city participated in receiving and entertaining the ladies
in the presidential party.
Congressman Stewart introduced the President, who
spoke as follows :
My Fellow- citizens — Your faces all respond to the words of wel-
come which have been spoken in your behalf. We have been not
only pleased but touched by the delicate and kindly expressions of
regard which we have received since entering the State of Texas.
I remained up last night until after midnight that I might not
unconsciously pass into this great State, and I was called very early
from my bed this morning to receive a draught of welcome, before
I had breakfasted, from another Texas audience. You have a
State whose greatness I think you have discovered.
A stranger can hardly hope to point out to you that which you
have not already known. Perhaps Virginia and Kentucky have
been heard to say more about their respective States than Texas ;
but I think their voices are likely soon to be drowned by the en-
thusiastic and affectionate claims which you will present to the
country for your great commonwealth. [Cheers.] You have the
resources in some measure — in a great measure— of all the States
gathered within your borders ; a soil adapted to the production of
all the cereals and grasses ; and to this you add cotton, sugar, and
tobacco. You are very rightly diversifying your crops, because
the history of intelligent farming shows that as the crops are
diversified the people prosper.
All is not staked upon the success of a single crop. You do well,
therefore, to raise cotton, sugar, and tobacco, and I am glad you
are not neglecting cattle, sheep, hogs, corn, and all the cereals.
We have been trying to do what we could from Washington to
make for you a larger and better market for your enormous meat
products. [Cheers. ] We have felt that the restrictions imposed
by some of the European governments could not be fairly justified
upon the ground stated by them. Already the Secretary of Agri-
culture— himself a farmer, who has with his own hands wrought
in all the work of the farm — has succeeded in procuring the re-
moval of some of these injurious restrictions, and has announced
to the country that exportation of cattle has increased 100 per cent,
in the last year. [Cheers.] I beg to assure you that these inter-
ests will have the most careful attention from the Government at
Washington and from our representatives at foreign courts. It is
believed that we have now by legislation a system of sanitary
inspection of our meat products that, wheu once put in operation
322 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
and examined by the European governments, will remove the last
excuse for the exclusion of our meats from those foreign states.
Our time is so limited that I can scarcely say more than "thank
you. " We cannot at all repay you for this demonstration of wel-
come, but let me say that in all your prosperity I shall rejoice. I do
desire that all our legislation and all our institutions and the com-
bined energies of all our people shall work together for the common
good of all our States and all our population. [Great cheering. ]
You have great resources of a material sort, and yet above all this
I rejoice that the timely forethought o'f your public men has pro-
vided an unexampled school fund for the education of the children.
These things that partake of the life that is spiritual are better
after all than the material. Indeed, there can be no true prosperity
in any State or community where they are not thoughtfully fos-
tered. Good social order, respect for the law, regard for other
men's rights, orderly, peaceful administration are the essential
things in any community. [Cheers. ]
GALVESTON, TEXAS, APRIL 18.
THE President and his party, accompanied by Governor
Hogg, arrived at Galveston on the afternoon of Saturday,
April 18, and were tendered an ovation by the hospitable
residents of the Island City. The distinguished travellers
were met at Houston by a committee of escort consisting of
Chairman Leo N. Levi, George Sealy, Julius Runge, R.
B. Hawley, W. F. Ladd, Col. R. G. Lowe, Maj. C. J. Allen,
Aldermen C. M. Mason and T. W. Jackson, D. D. Bryan,
J. W. Burson, Mrs. R. L. Fulton, Mrs. R. B. Hawley, Mrs.
Aaron Blum, Mrs. W. F. Ladd, and Mrs. C. J. Allen.
On arriving in the city the President was welcomed by
the other members of the Reception Committee, headed by
Mayor Roger L. Fulton, the Board of Aldermen, and the
following prominent citizens : Leon Blum, R. S. Willis,
J. C. League, H. A. Landes, J. E. Wallis, Col. J. S. Rogers,
P. J. Willis, Robert Bornefeld, C. C. Sweeney, M. F. Mott,
Albert Weis, M. Lasker, J. Z. Miller, Fen Cannon, Col.
John D. Rogers, J. N. Sawyer, W. H. Sinclair, Joseph
Cuney, Geo. Seeligson, Julius Weber, J. D. Skinner, Thos.
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 323
H. Sweeney, James Montgomery, F. L. Dana, James
Moore, W. F. Beers, J. H. Hatchings, Wm. H. Masters, M.
W. Shaw, W. B. Benson, H. B. Cullum, C. H. Rickert, W.
B. Lockhart, U. Muller, F. Lammers, H. F. Sproule, Judge
C.L.Cleveland, Judge Wm. H. Stewart, R T. Wheeler,
N. W. Cuney, Thomas W. Cain, Samuel Penland, R. G.
Street, J. Lobit, D. M. Erlich, C. M. Trueheart, L. Fellman,
C. R. Reifel, Charles Vidor, George Butler, W. Vowrinc-
kle, Joe Owens, C. E. Angel, Rev. S. M. Bird, Br. A. W.
Fly, Br. J. T. Y. Paine, Br. H. P. Cooke, J. R. Gibson,
Howard Carnes, Charles Maddox, Bishop Gallagher, Rev.
A. T. Spaulding, A. B. Tuller, Br. J. B. Baviss, Rev. J. E.
Edwards, A. B. Homer, Rev. Joseph B. Sears, J. Singer, R.
C. Johnson, J. W. Riddell, B. Tiernan, T. A. Gary, John
Focke, Joseph Scott, W. E. McBonald, Geo. Schneider, F.
O. Becker, Thomas Goggan, J. B. Sherwood, O. H. Cooper,
E. O'C. Maclnerney, Thos. S. King, Robert Bay, Baniel
Buckley, J. J. Hanna, F. W. Fickett, Wm. Selkirk, and J.
A. Robertson,
Immediately following their arrival the presidential
party, escorted by Hon. Wm. H. Crain, Mr. Leon Blum,
and other members of the Reception Committee, enjoyed
a trip about the harbor aboard one of the Mallory line
steamships, enabling them to view the extensive Govern-
ment works for deepening the channel at the entrance to
the harbor. This excursion was followed by a ride across
the island amid a shower of flowers.
The parade was participated in by all the military and
industrial organizations of the city ; also by the Odd Fel-
lows, Knights of Pythias, and other orders, and was a most
imposing demonstration. The G. A. R. veterans acted as
a guard of honor to the President on the march, and the
day was just closing when the column arrived at the
Beach Hotel, on the very shore of the Gulf of Mexico,
where the formal address of welcome was ably delivered
by Gen. T. N. Waul.
324 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
President Harrison's response was the longest speech of
his trip, and attracted wide-spread and favorable comment.
He said :
My Fellow -citizens — We close to-night a whole week of travel,
a whole week of hand-shaking, a whole week of talking. I have
before me 10,000 miles of hand- shaking and speaking, and I am
not, by reason of what this week has brought me, in voice to con
tend with the fine but rather strong Gulf breeze which pours in
upon us to-night ; and yet it comes to me laden with the fragrance
of your welcome. [Cheers.]" It comes with the softness, refresh-
ment, and grace which have accompanied all my intercourse with
the people of Texas. [Great cheering. ]
The magnificent and cordial demonstration which you have made
in our honor to-day will always remain a bright and pleasant
picture in my memory. [Great cheers. ] I am glad to have been
able to rest my eyes upon the city of Galveston. I am glad to
have been able to traverse this harbor and to look upon that work
which a liberal and united Government has inaugurated for your
benefit and for the benefit of the Northwest. [Great and prolonged
cheers.] I have always believed that it was one of the undisputed
functions of the general Government to make these great water-
ways which penetrate our country and these harbors into which
our shipping must come to receive the tribute of rail and river
safe and easy of access.
This ministering care should extend to our whole country, and I
am glad that, adopting a policy with reference to the harbor work,
here at least, which I insisted upon in a public message [great
and prolonged cheering] , the appropriation has been made adequate
to a diligent and prompt completion of the work. [Great cheer-
ing. ] In the past the Government has undertaken too many things
at once, and its annual appropriations have been so inadequate
that the work of the engineers was much retarded and often seri-
ously damaged in the interval of waiting for fresh appropriations.
It is a better policy, when a work has once been determined to
be of national significance, that the appropriation should be
sufficient to bring it speedily and without loss to a conclusion.
[Great cheering.] I am glad that the scheme of the engineer for
giving deep water to Galveston is 'thus to be prosecuted.
I have said some of our Soutli Atlantic and Gulf ports occupy
a most favorable position for the new commerce toward which we
are reaching out our hands, and which is reaching out its hands
to us. [Great cheering. ] I am an economist in the sense that I
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 325
would not waste one dollar of public money , but I am not an
economist in the sense that I would leave incomplete or suffer to
lag any great work highly promotive of the true interests of our
people. [Great cheering. ]
We are great enough and rich enough to reach forward to grander
conceptions than have entered the minds of some of our statesmen
in the past. If you are content, I am not, that the nations of
Europe shall absorb nearly the entire commerce of these near sister
republics that lie south of us. It is naturally in large measure
ours — ours by neighborhood, ours by nearness of access, ours by
that sympathy that binds a hemisphere without a king. [Cheers. J
The inauguration of the Three Americas Congress, or more prop-
erly the American Conference, the happy conduct of that meeting,
the wise and comprehensive measures which were suggested by it,
with the fraternal and kindly spirit that was manifested by our
southern neighbors, has stimulated a desire in them and in our
people for a larger intercourse of commerce and of friendship.. The
provisions of the bill passed at the last session looking to a reci-
procity of trade not only met with my official approval when I
signed the bill, but with my zealous promotion before the bill was
reported. [Great and prolonged cheering.]
Its provision concerning reciprocity is that we have placed upon
our free list sugar, tea, coffee and hides, and have said to those nations
from whom we receive these great staples : Give us free access to
your ports for an equivalent amount of our produce in exchange,
or we will reimpose duties upon the articles named. The law
leaves it wholly to the Executive to negotiate these arrangements.
It does not need that they shall take the form of a treaty.
They need not be submitted for the concurrence of the Senate.
It only needs that we, having made our offer, shall receive their
offer in return ; and when they shall have made up an acceptable
schedule of articles produced by us that shall have free access to
their ports, a proclamation by the President closes the whole busi-
ness. [Cheers.] Already one treaty with that youngest of the
South American republics, the great republic of Brazil, has been
negotiated and proclaimed. I think, without disclosing an Exec
utive secret, I may tell you that the arrangement with Brazil is
not likely to abide in lonesomeness much longer [great and pro-
longed cheering] ; that others are to follow, and that as a result of
these trade arrangements the products of the United States — our
meats, our breadstuffs, and certain lines of manufactured goods —
are to find free or favored access to the ports of many of these
South and Central American States. All the States will share in
326 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
these benefits. We have had some analysis of the manifests of
some of our steamers now sailing to South American ports, and in
a single steamer it was found that twenty-five States contributed to
the cargo.
But we shall need something more. We shall need American
steamships to carry American goods to these ports. [Great cheer-
ing. J The last Congress passed a bill appropriating about $1, 500, 000,
and authorized the Postmaster -General to contract with steamship
companies for a period not exceeding ten years for the carrying of
the United States mail. The foreign mail service is the only mail
service out of which the Government has been making a net profit.
We do not make a profit out of our land service.
There is an annual deficiency which my good friend the Post-
master-General has been trying veiy hard to reduce or wipe out.
The theory of our mail service is that it is for the people, that we
are not to make a profit out of it, that we are to give them as
cheap postage as is possible. We are, many of us, looking forward
to a time when we shall have one -cent postage in this country.
[Cheers.] We have been so close and penurious in dealing with
our ships in the carrying of foreign mails that we have actually
made revenues out of that business, not having spent for it what
we have received from it. Now we propose to change that policy
and to make more liberal contracts with American lines carrying
American mail. [Cheers.]
Some one may say we ought not to go into this business, that it
is subsidy. But, my friend, every other great nation of the world
has been doing it and is doing it to-day. Great Britain and France
have built up their great steamship lines by Government aid, and
it seems to me our attitude with reference to that is aptly portrayed
by an illustration I mentioned the other day. In olden times no
wholesale merchant sent out travelling men to solicit custom,
but he stood in his own store and waited for his customers.
But presently some enterprising merchant began to send out men
with their samples to seek the trade, to save the country buyer the
cost of the trip to New York or Philadelphia, until finally that
practice has become universal, and these active, intelligent travel-
ling men are scurrying this country over, pushing and soliciting
in their several lines of business. Now imagine some conservative
merchant in New York saying to himself • "All this is wrong ; the
trade ought to come to me. " If he should refuse to adopt these
modern methods what would be the result? He must adopt the
new methods or go out of business. We have been refusing to
adopt the universal method of our competitors in commerce to
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 327
stimulate their shipping interest and have gone out of the business.
[Laughter and cheers. J Encouraged by what your spokesman has
said to-night. I venture to declare that I am in favor of going into
business again, and when it -is re-established I hope Galveston will
be in the partnership. [Great cheers.]
It has been the careful study of the Postmaster -General in pre-
paring to execute the la\v to which I have referred to see how
much increase in routes and ships we could secure by it. We have
said to the few existing American lines : You must not treat this
appropriation as a plate of soup, to be divided and consumed.
You must give us new lines, new ships, increased trips, and new
ports of call. Already the steamship lines are looking over the
routes to see what they can do, with a view of increasing their
tonnage and establishing new lines.
The Postmaster General has invited the attention and suggestion
of all the boards of trade of all our seaboard cities. Undoubtedly
you have received such a letter. This appropriation is for one
year ; what the future is to be must depend upon the deliberate
judgment of the people. If during my term of office they shall
strike down a law that I believe to be beneficial or destroy its
energy by withholding appropriations, I shall bow to their will,
but I shall feel great disappointment if we do not make an era for
the revival of American commerce. I do much want that the time
shall come when our citizens living in temporary exile in foreign
ports shall now and then see steaming into these distant ports a
fine modern man-of-war, flying the United States flag [cheers],
with the best modern guns on her deck, and a brave American
crew in her forecastle. [Cheers. ] I want, also, that in these ports,
so long unfamiliar with the American flag, there shall again be
found OUT* steamships and our sailing vessels flying the flag that we
all love, and carrying from our shores the products that these men
of toil have brought to them to exchange for the products of other
climes.
I think we should add to all this, and happily it is likely to be
accomplished by individual efforts, the early completion of the
Nicaragua Canal. [Cheers.] The Pacific coast should no longer
be found by sea only by the passage of the Horn. The short route
should be opened, and it will be, and then with this wondrous
stirring among the people of all our States, this awakening to new
business plans and more careful and economical work, there will
come great prosperity to all our people. Texas will spin more of
the cotton that she raises.
The great States of the South will be in discontent with the old
328 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
condition that made them simply agricultural States, and will
rouse themselves to compete with the older manufacturing States
of the North and East, [Cheers.] The vision I have, all the
thoughts I have of this matter embrace all the States and all my
countrymen. I do not think of it as a question of party ; I think
of it as a great American question. [Cheers. ] By the invitation
of the address which was made to me I have freely spoken my
mind to you on these topics. I hope I have done so with no offence
or impropriety. [Cries of "No, no!" and cheers.]
I would not on an occasion so full of general good feeling as this
obtrude anything that should induce division or dissent. For all
who do dissent I have the most respectful tolerance. The views I
hold are the result of some thought and investigation, and as they
are questions of public concern I confidently submit them to the
arbitrament of brave and enlightened American suffrage. [Ap-
plause and cheers.]
SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS, APRIL 20.
THE President and his party passed their first Sunday
at Galveston, leaving the Island City at midnight and ar-
riving at San Antonio at 11:15 Monday morning. A
special committee, consisting of Hon. C. W. Ogden, Chair-
man ; Col. C. M. Terrell, S. M. Johnson, J. S. McNamara,
Mrs. Ogden, Mrs. Johnson, and Miss Eleanor Sullivan,
escorted the party from Galveston. The Alamo City was
profusely decorated in honor of the visit, and a great throng
greeted the President's arrival. He was received by the
Hon. Bryan Callaghan, Mayor of the city, at the head of
the following committee of leading citizens : Gen. David
S. Stanley, U. S. A. ; Col. J. P. Martin, Col. W. B. Wright,
Col. H. B. Andrews, Maj. C. C. Cresson, Hon. W. W.
King, L. M. Gregory, B. F. Yoakum, C. W. Ogden, H. D.
Kampmann, J. S. Alexander, W. J. B. Patterson, A. W.
Houston, Reagan Houston, Richard Wooley, Jr., R. H.
Russell, N. Mackey, George Dullnig, J. V. Dignowity, J.
S. Thornton, F. Groos, H. P. Drought, D. Sullivan, Charles
Hugo, Rev. Dr. Giddiiigs, C. K. Breneman, W. H. Weiss,
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 329
Frank Grice, Alex. Joske, Henry Elmendorf, Robert Dris-
coll, Paul Wagner, J. Ronse, J. E. Pancoast, Adolph
Wagner, George H. Kalteyer, Charles J. Langholz, C. B.
Mullaly, R. H. McCracken, A. G. Cooper, Dr. G. Graham
Watts, Dr. J. P. Ornealus, Dr. Amos Graves, and A. T.
Wilson. Mayor McDonald, of Austin, and Hon. L. L. •
Foster also participated in the reception.
A rainstorm interfered with the parade, and the public
reception was held at the Opera House, thousands being-
unable to enter. Mayor Callaghaii made the welcoming
address and introduced President Harrison, who spoke as
follows :
Mr. Mayor and Fellow-citizens — I very much regret that frequent
speaking in the open air during the past week and the very heavy
atmosphere which we have this morning have somewhat impaired
my voice. I am sure you will crown your hospitality and kindness
by allowing me to speak to you very briefly. I sympathize with
you in the distress which you feel that the day is so unpropitious
for any street demonstration, but I have been told by one wise in
such matters that this rain is worth $5, 000, 000 to Western Texas.
That being the case, it greatly moderates our regret. It has come
to be a popular habit of attributing to the President whatever
weather may happen on any demonstration in which he takes a
part. I suppose I may claim credit this morning for this beneficial
rain. [Applause. ] I generously assure you that if it is worth as
much money as my friend has estimated I shall not take more than
half that sum. [Laughter.] In visiting for a little while this
historic city, I had anticipated great pleasure in looking upon the
remains of an earlier occupancy of this territory in which you
now dwell. Our glance this morning must be brief and imperfect,
but the history has been written and the traditions of these mar-
tyrdoms which occurred here for liberty are fresh in your minds
and are still an inspiring story to be repeated to your children.
I remember in my early boyhood to have heard in our family
thrilling descriptions of the experiences of an uncle, whose name
I bear, in some of those campaigns for freedom in Texas in which
he took a part, so that the story to me goes back to those dim early
recollections of childhood. I am glad to stand where those recol-
lections are revived and freshened, for they were events of momen-
tous importance to this country, to this State, and to the whole
330 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
Union. I rejoice that you have here so great a commonwealth.
The stipulations under which Texas came into the Union of the
States, and which provided that that great Territory might be
subdivided into five States, seem not to attract much attention in
Texas now.
Indeed, as far as I can judge, no man would be able successfully
to appeal to the suffrages of any hamlet in Texas upon the issue
that the State should be divided at all. [Cheers.] The great
industrial capacities which you have, the beneficent climate that
spreads over much of your vast territory, the great variety of pro-
ductions which your soil and climate render possible, give a
promise for the future of a prominence among the great States of
the Union that seems to me can scarcely fail to bring Texas to the
front rank. [Cheers.] You are only now beginning to plough this
vast stretch of land. You are only now beginning to diversify
those interests, to emancipate yourselves by producing at home in
your fields all of those products which are necessary to comfort-
able existence.
I hope you will soon add, indeed, you are now largely adding,
to this diversity of agricultural pursuits a diversity of mechanical
pursuits. The advantages which you have to transmute the great
production of the field into the manufactured product are very
great. There can be certainly no reason why a very large part of
the million bales of cotton which you produce should not be spun
in Texas. [Cheers.] I hope your people will more and more turn
their thoughts to this matter, for just in proportion as a community
or State suitably divides its energies among various industries, so
does it retain the wealth it produces and increase its population.
[Applause. ]
A great Englishman, visiting this country some time ago, in
speaking of the impressions which were made upon his mind, said
he was constantly asked as he travelled through the country whether
he was not amazed at its territorial extent. He said while this,
of course, was a notable incident of travel, he wrondered that we
did not forget all our bigness of territory in a contemplation of the
great spectacle we presented as a free people in organized and
peaceful community. He regarded this side of our country and
her institutions as much more important than its material develop-
ment or its territorial extent, and he was right in that judgment.
My fellow-citizens, the pride of America, that which should
attract the admiration and has attracted the imagination of many
people upon the face of the earth, is our system of government.
[Applause. ] I am glad to know, and to have expressed my satis-
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 331
faction before, that here in this State of Texas you are giving
attention to education ; that you have been able to erect a school
fund, the interest upon which promises a most magnificent endow-
ment for your common schools. These schools are the pride and
safety of your State. They gather into them upon a common level
with us, and I hope with you, the children of the rich and poor.
In the State in which I dwell everybody's children attend the
common schools.
This lesson of equality, the perfect system which has been devel-
oped by this method of instruction, is training a valued class of
citizens to take up the responsibilities of government when we
shall lay them down. [Applause.] I hope every one of your com-
munities, even your scattered rural communities, will pursue this
good work. I am sure this hope is shared by my honored host,
Governor Hogg, who sits beside me [applause], and who, in the
discharge of his public duties, can influence the progress of this
great measure. No material greatness, no wealth, no accumula-
tion of splendor, is to be compared with those humble and homely
virtues which have generally characterized our American homes.
The safety of the State, the good order of the community — all
that is good — the capacity, indeed, to produce material wealth, is
dependent upon intelligence and social order. [Applause. ] Wealth
and commerce are timid creatures ; they must be assured that the
nest will be safe before they build. So it is always in those com-
munities where the most perfect order is maintained, where intel-
ligence is protected, where the Church of God and the institutions
of religion are revered and respected, that we find the largest
development in material wealth. [Applause.]
Thanking you for your cordial greeting, thanking all your peo-
ple, and especially the Governor of your State, for courtesies which
have been unfailing, for a cordiality and friendliness that has not
found any stint or repression in the fact that we are of different
political opinions [great cheering], I beg to thank you for this
special manifestation of respect, and to ask you to excuse me from
further speech. I shall follow such arrangements as your commit-
tee have made, and shall be glad if in those arrangements there is
some provision by which I may meet as many of you as possible
individually. [Prolonged cheering.]
332 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
DEL RIO, TEXAS, APRIL 21.
THE chief incident of the long run from San Antonio to
El Paso was the enthusiastic reception tendered the Presi-
dent by the residents of the thriving frontier town of Del
Rio, county seat of Yal Verde County. The town was
handsomely decorated, and the following Reception Com-
mittee welcomed the President and party : Judge W. K.
Jones, C. S. Brodbent, Zeno Fielder, J. A. Price, H. D.
Bonnett, E. L. Dignowity, Paul Flato, Clyde Woods,
Thomas Cunningham, W. C. Easterling, J. C. Clarkson,
E. G. Nicholson, C. G. Leighton, and R. J. Felder.
Rev. Dr. H. S. Thrall, the veteran historian of Texas,
delivered the address of welcome. The President, respond-
ing, said:
My Friends — I had supposed when we left San Antonio that we
were not to be stopped very often between that point and El Paso
with such assemblages of our fellow-citizens. We had settled down
to an easy way of living on the train, and I had supposed that
speech-making would not be taken up until to-morrow. I thank
you most cordially for this friendly evidence of your interest, and
I assure you that all of these matters to which your spokesman has
alluded are having the most careful consideration of the authorities
at Washington. The Secretary of Agriculture, who is with me on
the train, has been diligent in an effort to open European markets
for American meats, and he has succeeded so far that our exporta-
tion has very largely increased in the last year. It is our hope
that these restrictions may still further be removed, and that
American meat products may have a still larger market in Europe
than they have had for veiy many years past. The inspections
now provided by law certainly must remove every reasonable ob-
jection to the use of American meats ; for we shall demonstrate to
them that they are perfectly wholesome and pure. I want to say,
from the time of my induction into office until this hour I have
had before me constantly the need of the American farmer of a
larger market for his products. [Cries of "Good! good!" and
cheers. ] Whatever we can do to accomplish that will be done.
I want to thank the public-school children for this address which
they have placed in my hands. What a blessed thing it is that
the public school system is found with the pioneer! It follows the
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 333
buffalo very closely I am glad to find that your children ar6 being
trained in intelligence and in those moral restraints which shall
make them good citizens. I thank you for your kindly presence.
EL PASO, TEXAS, APRIL 21.
THE enterprising city of El Paso was reached at 10
o'clock Tuesday morning, and the President was tendered
a veritable ovation. The reception at this point partook of
an international aspect. President Diaz of Mexico was
represented in the person of Governor Carrillo, Chief Ex-
ecutive of the State of Chihuahua, accompanied by a brill-
iant staff of 20 officers. The War Department of the
Mexican Government was represented by Gen. Jose Maria
Ran j el, Chief of the Second Military Zone, accompanied
by his staff, a company of artillery, and the Eleventh Bat-
talion Band of 45 instruments. From the City of Mexico
came Col. Ricardo Villanueva and Col. Ygnacio J. Mon-
roy, representing the Federal Government, while the neigh-
boring city of Juarez was represented by Colonel Ross, com-
mander of the garrison, Senor Mejia, Senor Urtetiga, and
many other prominent citizens. The city of El Paso was
represented by Mayor Richard Caples and the members of
the City Council. The Citizens' Committee of Reception
comprised W. S. Hills, Chairman; E. B. Bronson, M. B.
Davis, S. W. Russell, W. F. Payne, Frank P. Clark, C. F.
Slack, Geo. L. Stewart, H. S. Beattie, Judge Allen Blacker,
A Solomon, W. B. Merrick, A. Berla, Louis Papin, Geo.
E. Bovee, James A. Smith, Hon. S. W. T. Lanham, A. J.
Eaton, Z. T. White, W. S. McCutcheon, A. M. Loomis, H.
C. Myles, Ben Schuster, A. J Sampson, D. W. Reckhart,
and J. F. Satterthwaite.
Governor Carrillo stood beside President Harrison dur-
ing the reception. After the distinguished Mexicans had
paid their respects and greeted our Chief Magistrate, Gen.
A. G. Malloy, on behalf of the citizens of El Paso, in an
334 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
eloquent address welcomed him to the Gate City of the
two republics.
President Harrison responded as follows :
My Fellow -citizens — I have been journeying for several days
throughout the great State of Texas. We are now about to leave
her territory and receive from you this parting salutation. Our
entrance into the State was with every demonstration of respect
and enthusiasm. This is a fitting close to the magnificent expres-
sion which the people of this State have given to us. I am glad
to stand at this gateway of trade with the great republic of Mex-
ico. [Cries of "Hear! hear!" and cheers.] I am glad to know
that it is not only a gateway of commerce, but a gateway of
friendship [cheers] ; that not only do these hurrying vehicles of
commerce bear the products of the fields and mines in mutual
exchange, but that they have facilitated those personal relations
which have promoted and must yet more promote the friendliness
of two independent liberty -loving peoples. [Cheers.]
I receive with great satisfaction these tributes of respect which
have been brought to me by the Governor of Chihuahua and the
representatives of the army of Mexico. [Cheers.] I desire to
return to them and through them to the people of Mexico and to
that illustrious and progressive statesman who presides over her
destinies [cheers] not only my sincere personal regard, but an
assurance of the friendliness and respect of the American Govern-
ment and the American people. I look forward with interest to a
larger development of our trade ; to the opening of new lines of
commerce and new avenues of friendship. We have passed that
era in our history, I hope, when we were aggressive and unpleas-
ant neighbors. We do not covet the territory of any other people
[cheers], but do covet their friendship and those trade exchanges
which are mutually profitable. [Cheers. ]
And now to you, my fellow -citizens, I bring congratulations for
the rapid development which you are making here, and extend the
most cordial good wishes for the realization of every hope you
have for El Paso and its neighborhood. [Cheers.] All republics
are builded on the respect and confidence of the people. They are
enduring and stable as their institutions and their rulers continue
to preserve their respect. I rejoice that those influences that tend
to soften the asperities of human life — the home, the school, and
the church — have kept pace with the enterprises of commerce and
are established here among you. All commerce and trade rest
upon the foundation of social order. You cannot attract an in-
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 335
creased citizenship except as you give to the world a reputation
for social order [cheers], in which crime is suppressed, in which
the rights of the humble are respected [cheers], and where the
courts stand as the safe bulwark of the personal and public rights
of every citizen, however poor. [Cheers.] I trust that as your
city grows you will see that these foundations are carefully and
broadly laid, and then you may hope that the superstructure, mag-
nificent in its dimensions, perfect in its security and grace, shall
rise in your midst. [Cheers. ]
I am glad to meet my comrades of the Grand Army of the
Republic [cheers], the survivors of the grand struggle for the
Union. It was one of the few wars in history that brought bless-
ings to the "victors and vanquished," and was followed by no
proscriptions, no block, no executions, but by the reception of
those who had striven for the destruction of the country into
friendly citizenship, laying upon them no yoke that was not borne
by the veterans — that of obedience to the law and a due respect for
the rights of others. [Cheers. ]
Again, sir [to the Mexican representative], I thank you for the
friendly greeting you have brought from across this narrow river
that separates us, and to you my fellow-countrymen, I extend my
thanks and bid you good-by. [Prolonged cheers.]
DEMING, NEW MEXICO, APRIL 21.
As the train crossed the Rio Grande and entered New
Mexico Hon. L. Bradford Prince, Governor of that Terri-
torjT, gave the Chief Magistrate a cordial welcome. Dem-
ing was reached at 2 o'clock. The city was in holiday at-
tire ; a battery of artillery thundered the presidential salute,
two companies of the Tenth Cavalry, under Captain Keyes,
came to a present as the President appeared, and the
Twenty-fourth Infantry Band burst forth in patriotic
strains. The Committee of Reception comprised the follow-
ing prominent citizens : Judge Boone, C. !L Dane, B. A.
Knowles, J. R. Meyers, A. J. Clark, J. P. Bryon, W. H.
Hudson, S. M. Ashenfelter, Gustav Wormser, Ed. Pen-
nington, W. Burg, James Martin, Colonel Fitzerell, James
A. Lockhart, Seaman Field, John Corbett, E. G. Ross, and
336 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
Robert Campbell. Professor Hayes delivered the wel-
coming address.
In reply Pi esident Harrison said :
My Fellow -citizens — It gives me great pleasure to tarry for a
moment here and to receive out on these broad and sandy plains
the same evidence of friendliness that has greeted me in the States.
I feel great interest in your people, and thinking that you have
labored under a disadvantage by reason of the unsettled state of
your land titles — because no country can settle up and become
populous while the titles to its land remain insecure — it was my
pleasure to urge upon Congress, both in a general and special mes-
sage, the establishment of a special land court to settle this ques-
tion once for all. [Cheers. ]
I am glad that the statute is now a law, and immediately upon
my return from this trip I expect to announce the judges of
that court, and to set them immediately to work upon these cases,
so that you shall certainly, within two years, have all these ques-
tions settled. 1 hope you will then see an increase of population
that has not as yet been possible, and which will tend to develop
your great mineral resources and open up your lands to settlement.
Thanking you, on behalf of our party, for this pleasant greeting, I
bid you good-by. [Cheers.]
LORDSBURG, NEW MEXICO, APRIL 21.
AT Lordsburg, New Mexico, the train made a brief stop.
A number of citizens, headed by Don. H. Kedzee, wel-
comed the President and presented him a handsome silver
box, manufactured from metal mined in the vicinity. On
the case was inscribed, " Protect the chief industry of our
Territories. Give us free coinage of silver." In accepting
the memento the President said : " Mr. Kedzee and gentle-
men, I thank you for this cordial welcome and for this ele-
gant souvenir, and assure you due care will be taken of
your interests." [Cheers.]
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 337
TUCSON, ARIZONA, APRIL 21.
TUCSON, the metropolis of Arizona, was brilliantly
illuminated in honor of the visitors, who were welcomed
by 5,000 citizens and a band of Papago Indians. Negley
Post, G. A. R., J. J. Hill, Commander, represented the vet-
erans. The city government was present in the persons of
Mayor Frederick Maish and Councilmen M. G. Sameniego,
M. Lamont, Geo. Lesure, Wm. Reid, Frank Miltenberg,
and Julius Goldbaum. The Committee of Reception on
the part of the citizens comprised many of the most dis-
tinguished men of the Territory as well as of the city,
among whom were : Federal Judges R. E. Sloan and H.
C. Gooding, Gen. R. A. Johnson, Gen. R. H. Paul, Charles
R. Drake, Herbert Brown, Brewster Cameron, J. Knox
Corbett, George Christ, J. S. McGee, S. Ainsa, Samuel
Hughes, Juan Elias, Rev. Howard Billman, Albert Stein-
feld, H. S. Stevens, M. P. Freeman, S. M. Franklin, W. C.
Davis, W. M. Lovell, J. S. Noble, H. B. Tenny, F. H. Here-
ford, D. C. Driscoll, J. C. Handy, J. A. Black, Thomas
Hughes; A. J. Keen, J. M. Ormsby, H. E. Lacy, G. B.
Henry, Frank Allison, George Pusch, H. W. Fenner, R. D.
Furguson, F. J. Henry, and C. C. Eyster.
Hon. Thos. F. Wilson made the address of welcome.
The President said :
My Fellow -citizens — It is surprising as well as gratifying to see
so many friends assembled to greet us on our arrival at Tucson to-
night. I beg to assure you that the interests of the Territories are
very close to my heart. By reason of my service as Chairman of
the Territory Committee in the United States Senate I was brought
to study very closely the needs of the Territories. I have had
great pleasure issuing the proclamations admitting five Territories
to the sisterhood of States since I became President. I realize the
condition of the people of the Territory without having representa-
tion in Congress as one of disadvantage, and I am friendly to the
suggestion that these Territories, as they have sufficient population
to sustain a State Government and to secure suitable adminis-
tration of the own affairs, shall be received into the Union.
338 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
[Cheers. ] It will be gratifying to me if you shall come into that
condition during the time that I occupy the presidential chair.
[Cheers.] I thank you again for your cordial demonstration, and
beg to present to you that gentleman of the Cabinet who has charge
of the postal affairs, Mr. Wanamaker. [Prolonged cheers. J
INDIO, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 22.
THE morning of the 22d brought the President and his
party out of the great desert to the borders of California,
where at Indio, the first station, they were enthusiasti-
cally greeted by the Governor of the State, Hon. Henry
H. Markham, at the head of the following distinguished
committee: Senator Charles N". Felton, ex-Gov. Geo. C.
Perkins, Col. Charles F. Crocker, Hon. E. F. Del Valle,
Hon. Stephen M. White, Gen. E. P. Johnson, Hon.
Hervey Liiidley, Hon. Freeman G. Teed, Hon. Irwin C.
Stump, Hon. Frank McCoppin, and Adjutant- General
Allen. From the districts adjacent to Indio were gathered
several hundred people to greet the Chief Magistrate,
mostly Indians. Postmaster A. G. Tingman introduced
the venerable Chief Cabazon, head of the Cohuilla tribe
and over 100 }^ears old, who presented a petition to the
President asking that the lands guaranteed his people by
the treaty with Mexico be restored to them. Governor
Markham delivered a cordial welcoming address, wherein
he reviewed the wonderful growth of California.
The President, in reply, said he would not undertake,
while almost choked with the dust of the plains he had just
left, to say all that he hoped to say in the way of pleasant
greetings to the citizens of California. Some time, when
he had been refreshed by their olive oil and their vine-
yards, he would endeavor to express his gratification at
being able to visit California. He had long desired to
visit California, and it was the objective point of this trip.
He had seen the northern coast and Puget Sound, but had
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 3,'iU
never before been able to see California. He remembered
from boyhood the excitement of the discovery of gold, and
had always distantly followed California's growth and
progress. The acquisition of California was second only
to that of Louisiana and the control of the Mississippi
River. It secured us this great coast, and made impossible
the ownership of a foreign power on any of our coast line'.
It has helped to perfect our magnificent isolation, which
is our great protection against foreign aggression. He
thanked the Governor and committee for their kindly re-
ception, and assured them that if he should have any com-
plaints to make of his treatment in California it would be
because its people had been too hospitable.
COLTON, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 22.
AT Colton the presidential party were enthusiastically
greeted by several thousand people. The Citizens' Com-
mittee comprised A. B. Miner, Chairman; Dr. Fox, J. B.
Shepardson, Wilson Hays, W. H. Wright, F. M. Hubbard,
Dr. Hutchinson, H. B. Smith, J. W. Davis, S. M. Goddard,
J. B. Hanna, Captain Topp, W. W. Wilcox, M. A. Mur-
phy, Prof. Mathews, R. A. Kuhn, C. B. Hamilton, J. M.
White, Dr. Sprecher, Geo. E. Slaughter, R. F. Franklin,
E. A. Pettijohn, E. E. Thompson, Dan Swartz, R. M. Mc-
Kie, Wm. McCully and Proctor McCann. The committee
appointed to wait on Mrs. Harrison were: Mesdames
Hubbard, Button, Shepardson, Fuller, Gilbert, Shibley,
Hebbard, and Wright. Twelve school-girls presented as
many baskets of oranges to the lady of the White House.
The President addressed the assemblage and said :
My FcUow- citizens — We have travelled now something more than
3,500 miles. They have been 3,500 miles of cordial greeting from
my fellow-citizens ; they have been 3,500 miles of perpetual talk.
It would require a brain more fertile in resources, more diversi-
fied in its operations than the State of California m its richness
340 HARRISONS SPEECHES,
and productions, to say something original or interesting at each
one of these stopping places ; but 1 can say always with a warm
heart to my fellow-citizens who greet me so cordially, who look to
me out of such kindly faces, I thank you ; I am your servant in all
things that will conduce to the general prosperity and happiness of
the American people.
Remote from us of the far East in distance, we are united to you
not only by the ties of a common citizenship, by the reverence and
honor we joyfully give to the one flag, but by those interchanges
of emigration which have brought so many of the people of the
older States to you. At every station where I have stopped since
entering California some Hoosier has reached up his hand to greet
me [laughter and cheers], and the omnipresent Ohio man, of
course, I have found everywhere. I was assured by these gentle-
men that they were making their full contributions to the develop-
ment of your country, and that they have possessed themselves of
their fair share of it.
I have been greatly pleased this morning to come out of the land
of the desert and the drifting sand into this land of homes and
smiling w^omen and bright children. I have been glad to see these
beautiful gardens and these fertile fields, and to know that you are
now, by the economical collection and distribution of the waters
of the hills, making all these valleys to blossom like the garden of
Eden. We do not come to spy the land with any view of dispos-
sessing you, as the original spies went into Palestine. We come
simply to exchange friendly greetings, and we shall hope to carry
aw^ay nothing that does not belong to us. [Cheers. ]
If we shall leave your happy and prosperous State freighted with
your good-will and love, as we shall leave ours with you, it will
be a happy exchange. [Cheers. ]
ONTARIO, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 22.
AT Ontario the President received a most patriotic
greeting ; throngs of school children brought him flowers.
The Reception Committee was G. T. Stamm, I. S. Miller,
E. P. Clarke, S. d Blood, R. E. Blackburn, G. W. A.
Luckey, Dr. O. S. Ensign, Dr. R. H. Tremper, and O. S.
Picher.
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 341
H. Z. Osborne, of the Los Angeles committee, introduced
the President, who spoke as follows :
My Friends — I thank you for this cordial greeting. I am sure
you will excuse me from extended remarks I have been subjected
to such a strain in that direction that my brain needs irrigation
to make it blossom with new thoughts. It to me is a pleasure to
look into the intelligent faces of American citizens. No such peo
pie gather in any other country as meet me at every station. They
come from good homes, which are the safety of our commonwealth.
I am pleased to see these children here. Good schools have every-
where followed the pioneer. You have brought to this new coun-
try the old New England ideas of thrift, of living on a little and
having a good deal left over. [Cheers.]
BANNING, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 22.
BANNING, the gateway to Southern California, gave the
presidential party an enthusiastic welcome and loaded
them down with fruits and flowers. Mr. Louis Munson,
editor of the Banning Herald, at the head of the Reception
Committee, delivered the welcoming address. The next
day at Arlington, where he had gone to again assist in
receiving the President, Mr. Munson was suddenly taken
with hemorrhage and died as the train passed. Other
members of the committee were M. G. Kelley, "W. S. Hath-
away, C. H. Ingelow, W. H. Ingelow, Dr. J. C. King, F. J.
Clancy, W. Morris, and M. L. Bridge. Two hundred In-
dian school children, in charge of Miss Morris and Father
Hahn, were objects of interest to the party.
Replying to Mr. Munson 's address, the President said
that although the good people of Banning were far in
point of distance from the seat of government, yet he was
sure they were bound nearly and close to it by ties of loy-
alty and of patriotism. He expressed his pleasure at meet-
ing the citizens of Banning and his appreciation of their
cordial welcome.
342 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
POMONA, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 22.
AT Pomona the President's car was profusely decorated
with floral designs by the ladies of the town. The mem-
bers of the Reception Committee were Senator J. E. Mc-
Comas, Rev. Chas. F. Loop, W. E. Ward, W. M. Woody,
A. H. Wilbur, F. P. Firey, C. I. Lorbeer, Capt, T. C.
Thomas, Geo. Osgoodby, C. D.Ambrose, Con Howe, John
E. Packard, and E. B. Smith. Vicksburg Post, G. A. R.,
H. H. Williams, Commander, was in attendance.
Responding to their cheers and calls the President said :
This cordial demonstration of respect, these friendly greetings,
make me your debtor I beg to thank you for it all, and out of
such gatherings as these, out of the friendly manifestations you
have given me on my entrance to California, I hope to get new im-
pulses to a more faithful and diligent discharge of the public duties
which my fellow- citizens have devolved upon me. No man can feel
himself adequate to these responsible functions, but I am sure if you
shall judge your public servants to be conscientiously devoted to your
interests, to the bringing to the discharge of their public duties a
conscientious fidelity and the best intelligence with which they are
endowed, you will pardon any shortcoming. Again I thank you
for your friendliness and beg you to excuse me from further speech.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 22.
THE famous city of Los Angeles was reached at 3
o'clock on the afternoon of the 22d. An ovation awaited
the President and his party here the like of which they
had not witnessed. They were met at Colton by a com-
mittee of escort consisting of Mayor Henry T. Hazard
and Mrs. Hazard, Mr. and Mrs. E. F. Spence, H. W. Hell-
man, Gen. and Miss Mathews, W. C. Furrey and wife,
Judge and Mrs. S. O. Houghton, A. W. Francisco and
wife, Col. H. G. Otis and wife, J. A. Kelly and wife, H.
Z. Osborne and wife, Capt. George J. Ainsworth, Mrs. Her-
vey Lindley, E. H. Lamme, and L. 1ST. Breed. Fully 20,-
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 343
000 voices greeted the President's arrival at the station,
where the members of the Citizens' Reception Committee,
of which Mayor Hazard was Chairman, received him.
This committee comprised the leading men of the city,
among whom were Hon. R. F. Del Valle, Gen. John Mans-
field, Gen. E. P. Johnson, Gen. A. McD. McCook, Gen. E.
E. Hewitt, Maj. Geo. E. Gard, Hon. John R. Mathews,
Maj. E.W.Jones, Col. H. C. Corbin, Maj. A. W. Barrett,
Col. T. A. Lewis, En gene Germain, C. F. A. Last, J.
Frankenfeld, W. H. Workman, Joseph Mesmer, L. I.
Garnsey, G. J. Griffith, John W. Green, J. F. Humphreys,
H. L. Macneil, A. E. Pomeroy, Frank W. Sabichi, I. H.
Polk, J. W. Haverstick, S. B. Hynes, R. S. Baker, Harris
Newmark, J. C. Kays, Maj. J. R. Toberman, I. R. Dunkle-
berger, Maj. A. W. Elderkin, ex-Gov. Geo. Stoneman, K.
H. Wade, A. E. Fletcher, Col. Joseph R. Smith, W. W.
Howard, Maj. W. H. Toler, Capt. W. H. Seamans, George
W. Bryant, Poindexter Dunn, Judge Lewis H. Groff, Hon.
R. B. Carpenter, Maj. E. F. C. Klokke, Hon. S. M. White,
W. H. Perry, S. C. Hubbell, S. H. Mott, I. 1ST. Van JSTuys,
A. Haas, J. de Barth Shorfr, Maj. George S. Patton, Maj.
E. L. Stem, Dr. H. Nadeau, K. Cohn, 0. W. Childs, Jr.,
L. Lichtenberger, A. H. Denker, Col. George H. Smith,
A. Glassell, Herman Silver, Louis Mesmer, J. M. Elliott,
S. B. Caswell, Dr. Eyraud, William R. Rowland, D. Ames-
toy, J. M. [Glass, M. L. Wicks, J. A. Booty, Maj. A. F.
Kimball, Capt. H. K. Bailey, Judge W. P. Wade, Judge
Walter Van Dyke, Judge W. H. Clarke, Judge J. W. Mc-
Kinley, Judge B. N. Smith, Judge Lucien Shaw, W. W.
Robinson, A. Lowe, K. Loeb, Hancock Banning, Capt.
Will Banning, T. W. Brotherton, W. J. Brodrick, M.S.
Severance, J. Illich, Gen. D. Remick, R. Cohen, Fred
Eaton, H. Siegel, V. Dol, M. Polaski, Dr. John S. Griffin,
J. F. Humphreys, J. M. Davies, Washington Hadley,
George C. Cook, Sanford Johnson, C. O. Collins, Col. F. A.
Eastman, D. Desmond, C. Ducommun, James McLachlan,
344 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
J. E. Plater, J. F. Towell, John S. Chapman, G. Wiley
Wells, Judge Enoch Knight, J. W. Hendricks, George
A. Vignolo, George R. Valiant, Philip Gamier, Judge W.
P. Gardiner, T. J. Weldon, R. M. Widney, A. C. Shafer,
Freeman G. Teed, Chas. H. White, John Keneally, Joseph
Shoder, Judge J. D. Bicknell, Thomas A. Lewis, Dr. W.
G. Cochran, Louis Phillips, Richard Gird, D. M. Mc-
Garry, J. T. Sheward, J. M. Hale, B. F. Coulter, Andrew
Mullen, H. Jevne, W. S. Moore, L. L. Bradbury, H. J.
Fleishman, Dr. J. P. Widney, George L. Arnold, L. A.
Sheldon, Will D. Gould, R. R. Haines, John McRae, C. J.
Ellis, J. K. Tufts, Dan McFarland, L. Harris, L. Ebin-
ger, A. E. Pomeroy, ex-Gov. J. G. Downey, ex-Gov. Pico,
T. E. Rowan, O. T. Johnson, Col. W. G. Schreiber, Dr.
W. Lindley, O. H. Churchill, W. G. Kerckhoff, J. A.
Muir, Silas Hoolman, Hon. J. F. Crank, I. B. Newton,
James Castruccio, J. A. Kelly, L. E. Mosher, A. F. Coronel,
J. C. Daly, Dr. W. L. Graves, H. W. O'Melveny, J. H.
Shanklin, Charles Froman, Albert M. Stephens, A. W.
Hutton, Rev. W. J. Chichester, H. T. Gage, Anson Brun-
son, Charles Silent, Dr. Joseph Kurtz, Judge T. K. Wilson,
Rev. A. G. Meyer, Simon Maier, Jacob Kuhrts, Judge J.
D. Bethune, Judge M. T. Allen, Albert McFarland, W. E.
Hughes, Herman Silver, Williamson Dunn, R. J. Nor-
tham, Capt. F. N. Marion, Capt. A. M. Thornton, L. Roe-
der, H. T. Newell, E. A. Forrester, John W. Wolfskill,
Joseph Wolfskill, H. J. Shoulter, Niles Pease, F. E.
Brown, M. G. Jones, John J. Schallert, Walter Patrick,
Charles F. Harper, F. W. King, J. M. Griffith, C. H.
Hance, J. A. Henderson, Newell Mathews, John Wigmore,
W. C. Howell, H. Baruch, L. W. Blum, Andrew W.
Ryan, J. Schumacher, E. T. Wright, A. B. Whitney, H.
C. Austin, A. E. Davis, M. Dodsworth, R. Rees, William
Lacy, Jotham Bixby, J. W. Potts, L. A. Grant, T. H.
Ward, George P. McLain, J. J. Warner, Henry Owens,
F. M. Nickell, J. H. Dockweiler, Dan Lines, M. D. John-
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 345
son, Ed. D. Gibson, Charles Stern, H. D. Barrows, M. V.
Biscailuz, H. Hiller, J. E. Yoakum, J. P. Moran, J. W.
Hinton, George Hansen, Len J. Thompson, W. S. Max-
well, L. Polaski, Theo. Summerland, Joseph Mullaly, P.
Beaudry, James Hanley,L. Bixby, "William M. Friesner, C.
Ganahl, Tom Strohm, B. T. Tolbert, Sherman Smith, John
A. Hughes, H. V. Van Dusen, John Bernard, O. J. Much-
more, C. F. Heinzman, J. C. Quinn, William Pridham, L.
C. Goodwin, C. H. Alford, E. H. Hutchinson, W. H.
Rhodes, A. McNally, E. E. Crandall, J. W. Hendrick, H.
W. Mills, John Goldsworthy, Thomas Pierson, Robert E.
Wirshing, Cyrus Vena, S. W. Luitweiler, R. H. Slater, H.
Bartning, A. H. Denker, E. B. Millar, A. L. Bath, T. S. C.
Lowe, Frank H. Howard, Joseph Maier, J. Frank Burns,
Conrad Jacoby, Charles A. Homer, Judge A. Brunson,
Mark G. Jones, D. McFarland, J. J. Gosper, J. M. Frew,
R. Dillon, Dr. K.D. Wise, T. D. Mott, J.C. Dotter, W. T.
Lambie, Frank Gibson, John Bryson, C. H. Bradley, V.
Ponet, M. C. Marsh, F. J. Capitan, William Ferguson,
M. Meyberg, L. Jacoby, H. Mosgrove, A. Hamburger, Al
Workman, W. T. Dalton, S. Hutton, Dr. J. H. Bryant,
Fred Gilmore, J. H. Book, C. E. Day, C. B. Wood-
head, Gen. E. Bouton, Robert Steere, F. N. Meyers, L. M.
Wagner, and F. E. Lopez.
As the President passed through the crowded streets of
the city, escorted by several hundred G. A. R. veterans,
he encountered a veritable rain of flowers at the hands of
several thousand school children. Arriving at the grand
stand Mayor Hazard, for the Reception Committee, for-
mally welcomed the President, ~who responded as follows :
Mr. Mayor and Fellow -citizens — My stay among you will not be
long enough to form an individual judgment of the quality of your
people, but it has been long enough already to get a large idea of
the number of them. [Cheers. ] I beg of you to accept my sincere
thanks for this magnificent demonstration of your respect. I do
not at all assume that these huzzas and streamers and banners with
346 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
which you have greeted me to-day area tribute to me individually.
I receive them as a most assuring demonstration of the love of the
people of California for American institutions. [Great and pro-
longed cheering.] And well are these institutions worthy of all
honor. The flag that you have displayed here to-day, the one flag,
the banner of the free and the symbol of the indissoluble union of
the States, is worthy of the affections of our people. Men have
died for it on the field of battle ; women have consecrated it with
their tears and prayers as they placed the standard in the hands of
brave men on the morning of battle. It is historically full of ten-
der interest and pride. It has a glorious story on the sea in those
times when the American navy maintained our prestige and suc-
cessfully beat the navies of our great antagonist. [Cheers. ]
It has a proud record from the time of our great struggle for in-
dependence down to the last sad conflict between our own citizens.
We bless God to-day that these brave men who, working out Hi«
purpose on the field of battle, made it again the symbol of a united
people. [Cheers.] Our institutions, of which this flag is an em-
blem, are free institutions. These men and women into whose
faces I look are free men and women. I do not honor you by my
presence here to-day. I hold my trust from you and you honor me
in this reception. [Great cheers.] This magnificent domain on
the Pacific coast, seized for the Union by the energy and courage
and wise forethought of Fremont and his associates, is essential to
our perfection. Nothing more important in territorial extension,
unless it be the purchase of the territory of Louisiana and the con-
trol of the Mississippi River, has ever occurred in our national his-
tory. [Great cheering.] We touch two oceans, and on both wre
have built commonwealths and great cities, thus securing in that
territory individuality and association which give us an assurance
of perpetual peace. [Cheers.] No great conflict of arms can ever
take place on American soil if we are true to ourselves and have
forever determined that no civil conflict shall again rend our coun-
try. [Cheers. ]
We are a peace-loving Nation, and yet we cannot be sure that
everybody else will be peaceful, and therefore I am glad that by the
general consent of our people and by the liberal appropriations
from Congress we are putting on the sea some of the best vessels
of their class afloat [cheers], and that we are now prepared to put
upon their decks as good guns as are made in the world ; and when
wo have completed our programme, ship by ship, we will put in
their forecastles as brave Jack Tars as serve under any flag. [Great
cheering.] The provident caro of our Government should be given
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 347
to your sea-coast defences until all these great ports of the Atlantic
and Pacific are made safe. [Cheers. ]
But, my countrymen, this audience overmatches a voice that has
been in exercise from Roanoke, Va. , to Los Angeles. I beg you,
therefore, again to receive my most hearty thanks and excuse me
from further speech. [Great and prolonged cheering.]
In the evening the President was escorted to the pavilion,
with a view to receiving personally the citizens, but when
he viewed the great assemblage he desisted from the her-
culean task of taking each one by the hand, and instead
thereof made the following address :
Ladies and Gentlemen — I thank you for the warm greeting that
you have given me and the royal welcome you have extended to
my party and myself to your lovely city. I am thoroughly aware
of the non-partisan character of this gathering, and appreciate the
good-will with which you have gathered here in this vast building
to receive me. I had a touching evidence of the non-partisan char-
acter of this gathering — and the good-will as well — just now when
a man said to me : "I want to shake hands with you, even if I did
lose a thousand dollars on your election. " There will be no trouble
to keep the flame of patriotism and love of country glowing so long-
as the American people thus manifest their loyalty to the officers
whom the will of the people has placed in power. I thank you
again for your good -will and hearty welcome. [Great cheering.]
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 23.
THE presidential party reached San Diego Wednesday
evening and was escorted at once to Coronado Beach
Hotel. The Indiana residents of the city called upon the
President shortly after his arrival, and Mr. Wright de-
livered an address in their behalf.
The President, in response, said :
My Friends — I regret that I can only say thank you. Our time is
now due to the citizens of San Diego, and I have promised not to
detain that committee. It is particularly pleasurable to me to see,
as I have done at almost every station where our train stopped,
some Indianiau, who stretched up the hand of old neighborship to
348 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
greet me as I passed along. It is this intermingling of our people
which sustains the merit of the home. The Yankee intermingles
with the Illinoisian, the Hoosier with the Sucker, and the people
of the South with them all ; and it is this commingling which gives
that unity which marks the American Nation. I am glad to know
that there are so many of you here, and as I said to some Hoosiers
as I came along, I hope you have secured your share of these
blessings.
The formal reception of the President took place Thurs-
day morning, when he was welcomed by Mayor Douglas
Gunn, at the head of the following Committee of Recep-
tion : Hon. John D. Works, Hon. Eli H. Murray, Hon.
W. W. Bowers, Howard M. Kutchin, Hon. Olin Wellborn,
E S. Babcock, Col. W. G. Dickinson, Col. Chalmers Scott,
Hon. G. W Hardacre, W. J. Hunsaker, Hon. George Pu-
terbaugh, E. S. Torrance, W. L. Pierce, Watson Parrish,
M. A. Luce, K H. Conklin, Maj. Levi Chase, Col. E. J.
Ensign, James P. Goodwin, M. L. Ward, Col. A. G. Gas-
sen, James McCoy, Dr. R. M. Powers, W. N. King, A. E.
Horton, L. S. McLure, T. S. Van Dyke, Col. John Kastle,
Carl Schutze, Geo. D. Copeland, M. Sherman, H. L. Story,
D. C. Reed, S. W. Switzer, Col. G. G. Bradt, Thos. Gard-
ner, E. N. Buck, Dr. D. Gochenauer, Henry Timken, Col.
W. L. Vestal, C. W. Pauly, Col. G. M. Bray ton, U. S.
A.; Capt. Leonard Hay, Capt. W. R. Maize, Lieut. E.
B. Robertson, John R. Berry, H. T. Christian, D. H.
Hewitt, Col. A. G. Watson, Daniel Stone, W. E. Howard,
J. S. Buck, R. C. Allen, A. V. Lomeli, Mexican Consul;
J. B. Neilson, Danish Consul; J. W. Girvin, Hawaiian
Consul; M. Blochman, French Vice-Consul; Bryant
Howard, Jacob Gruendike, J. W. Collins, John Long,
Frank A. Kimball, S. Levi, Gen. T. T. Crittenden, J. F.
Sinks, Dr. P. C. Remondino, O. J. Stough, J. S. Man-
nasse, Frank M. Simpson, J. E. Fishburne, Warren Wil-
son, T. A. Nerney, H. C. Treat, F. S. Jennings, T. M.
Loup, Dr. J. G. Beck, Capt. C. T. Hinde, G. S. Hav-
ermale, H. A. Howard, Philip Morse, George W. Marston,
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 349
Fred N. Hamilton, E. W. Morse, J. S. Gordon, E. J.
Louis, R. M. Dooley, E. W. Bushyhead, O. S. Witherby,
W. J. Prout, William Collier, J. H. Gay, G. H, Ballou,
F. S. Plympton, J. P. Winship, Tomas Alvarado, Col.
E. B. Spileman, Ariosto McCrimmon, Paul H. Blades,
and Walter G. Smith.
Heintzelman Post, G. A. R., Gen. Datus E. Coon, Com-
mander, participated in the reception, which was held on
the Plaza. Mayor Gumi delivered the address of wel-
come.
The President, responding, said :
Mr. Mayor and Fellow-citizens — I am in slavery to a railroad
schedule, and have but a few moments longer to tarry in your beau-
tiful city. If there were no other reward for our journey across
the continent, we have seen to-day about your magnificent harbor
that which would have repaid us for all the toil of travel. [Ap-
plause. ]
I do not come to tell you anything about California, for I have
perceived in my intercourse with Californians in the East and dur-
ing this brief stay among you that already you know all about Cal-
ifornia. [Laughter. ]
You are, indeed, most happily situated. Every element that
makes life comfortable is here ; every possibility that makes life
successful and prosperous is here; and I am sure, as I look into
those kindly, upturned faces, that your homes have as healthful a
moral atmosphere as the natural one that God has spread over your
smiling land.
It is with regret that we now part from you. The welcome you
have extended to us is magnificent, kindly, and tasteful. We shall
carry away the most pleasant impression, and shall wish for you
all that you anticipate in your largest dreams for your beautiful
city [cheers] — that your harbor may be full of foreign and coast-
wise traffic, that it may not be long until the passage of our naval
and merchant marine shall not be by the Horn, but by Nicaragua.
[Cheers.] I believe that great enterprise, which is to bring your
commerce into nearer and cheaper contact with the Atlantic sea-
board cities, both of this continent and of South America, will not
be long delayed.
And now, again with most grateful thanks for your friendly
attention, in my own behalf and in behalf of all who journey with
me I bid you a most kindly farewell. [Prolonged cheers. ]
350 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
At the conclusion of the President's address Governor
Torres, of Lower California, in the uniform of a Major-
General of the Mexican army, approached the President
and read the following telegram from Gen. Porfirio Diaz,
President of Mexico :
It has come to my knowledge that the President of the United
States, Hon. Benjamin Harrison, shall visit San Diego on the 23d
instant, and I let you know it so that you may call to congratulate
him in my name and present him with my compliments.
[Signed] PORFIRIO DIAZ.
Responding to this friendly international salute, Presi-
dent Harrison said :
Governor Torres — This message from that progressive and intelli-
gent gentleman who presides over the destinies of our sister repub-
lic is most grateful to me. I assure you that all our people, that
the Government, through all its instituted authorities, entertain
for President Diaz and for the chivalrous people over which he pre-
sides the most friendly sentiments of respect. [Cheers and applause. ]
We covet, sir, your good-will and those mutual exchanges which
are mutually profitable, and we hope that the two republics may
forever dwell in fraternal peace.
As the President sat down Governor Torres remarked :
" The Mexican people respond heartily to your kind
wishes."
SANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 23.
ON the return route from San Diego the presidential
train stopped at Santa Ana, a thriving town in Orange
County, where 5,000 people had assembled to greet the
Chief Magistrate. The Committee of Reception was John
T. Nourse, C. S. McKelvey, W. S. Taylor, J. A. Crane,
John Beatty, Geo. E. Edgar, Geo. T. Insley, Capt. H. T.
Matthews, W. H. Drips, and Robert Cummings. Sedg-
wick Post, G. A. R., H. F. Stone, Commander, was pres-
ent. Prof. M. Mauley delivered the address of welcome,
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 351
and the Hon. W. H. Spurgeon, founder of the city, in-
troduced the President, who spoke as follows :
My Fellow -citizens — I have already proved your hospitality. It is
very, very generous, and it is very graceful. I have but one doubt
in regard to it, and that is whether I can stand so much of it.
[Laughter and applause.] It has given me great gladness of heart
to look into your faces. I have been discharging some public busi-
ness far remote from you, and I hope with some concern for your
interest, for I have tried to take a wide view of public questions
and to have in my mind a thought of the people of this great land.
Our politics should be as broad as the territory over which our
people have spread. It is a part of the history of the country which
has always kept in memory the safety and interests of those who
pushed civilization to the Rocky Mountains and over its rugged
peaks into these fruitful valleys. I am glad to see here this after-
noon these little children. The order in which they have assembled
gives me assurance that they have come from the school-houses,
those nurseries of knowledge and common interests in our Ameri-
can States.
I am glad that you grow not only the olive-tree in your garden,
but that to the olive-trees that are planted in the household and
bloom about your table you give your greatest attention. Now,
thanking you very kindly and confessing very humbly that I am
not able to repay you for your generous welcome, and leaving to
all these little ones my best hopes for useful, prosperous, and honor-
able lives, I bid you all good -by.
ORANGE, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 23.
THROUGH the zealous efforts of Mrs. T. I. Halsted, Pres-
ident of the Woman's Relief Corps of Orange, Mrs. Emilie
N. Tener, and others, the presidential train stopped at that
town. The Committee of Reception was : Rev. A. Parker,
Robert E. Tener, E. E. Risley, Wm. H. Arne, Mrs. E. B.
Strong, H. W. Wilson, and D. C. Pixley. Gordon Granger
Post, G.A.R., A. Meacham, Commander, was present in
full force.
Responding to enthusiastic cheers the President said :
My Friends— I am glad to look into your smiling faces, and I
thank you for this welcome. California is a State that is favorably
352 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
situated, and, so far as I can judge, this section is among the most
favored in the State. There is no time for a speech, but we can
shake hands with a few of those who are nearest.
RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 23.
ONE of the most enjoyable visits of the President and
his party was to Riverside, San Bernardino County, where,
on driving from Arlington station, they were welcomed
by several thousand residents of the district. The JCom-
mittee of Reception comprised Hon. H. M. Streeter, Judge
W.W. Noland, Judge Harvey Potter, C. O. Perrine, Capt,
C. H. Vosburg, C. M. Loring, A. P. Johnson, F. M. Dun-
bar, A. Keith, C. T. Rice, Capt. J. T. Lawler, A. H.
Naftzger, E. W. Holmes, F. McChoppin, Frank A. Mil-
ler, G. W. Dickson, J. A. Wilbur, F. M. Heath, C. N.
Andrews, J. R. Newberry, F. E. Abbott, W. C. Fitzsim-
mons, D. W. McLeod, B. R. Williams, C. P. Hayt, and
Mrs. S. A. Ames, representing the city of Riverside ; Mrs.
C. W. Sylvester, representing the Woman's Relief Corps;
Mrs. C. Button, representing the W. C. T. U., and Mrs.
Davis.
The President and Mrs. Harrison and all the other mem-
bers of the party were treated to a delightful drive through
the celebrated orange groves. The President was accom-
pani ed by Hon. S. C . Evans. Returning from the groves the
President's carriage was halted in front of the High School
building, where 1,400 scholars and several thousand others
had assembled.
On being presented by Mr. Evans the President said :
My Friends — We can tarry only for a moment, as we are already
behind the regular time for leaving. I cannot, however, drive by
this large assemblage of friends, gathered to greet us on the way,
without expressing the delight with which I have looked upon
these beautiful surroundings. My trip from Washington has been
full of pleasures and surprises, but nothing has given me greater
surprise and more pleasure than the drive of this afternoon through
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 353
this magnificent valley of Riverside. I am glad you are interested
in cultivating the children as well as the orange, and I trust that
their young minds may be kept as free from all that is injurious as
these fine orange orchards are of weeds and everything that is nox-
ious. May their lives be as fruitful as your trees, and their homes
as happy and full of joy as this land seems to be of the bright sun-
shine of God.
The distinguished visitors then proceeded through the
city and reviewed the parade, at the conclusion of which
the President, speaking without introduction, said :
My Friends — I am sorry that we can tarry with you only for a
moment. We are now twenty minutes behind our schedule time
for leaving. If we should stay with you longer we should disap-
point others who are waiting for us at an appointed time.
We are grateful to you for your presence. I have enjoyed very
much the ride through the valley. You are a favored people, and
ought to be, «,s I have no doubt you are, a law-abiding, liberty-
loving, and patriotic people.
SAN BERNARDINO, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 23.
ANOTHER typical gathering, full of California enthusi-
asm, greeted the party at San Bernardino. The Reception
Committee comprised C. C. Haskell, Chairman; J. C.
Lynch, Hon. Samuel Merrill, W. A. Harris, Joseph Brown,
J. N. Victor, L. C. Waite, Richard Gird, W. E. W.
Lightfoot, W. B. Beamer, R. J. Waters, Truman Reeves,
Dr. A. Thompson, Col. T. J. Wilson, D. A. Scott, A. S.
Hawley, J. J. Hewitt, E. B. Stanton, A. G. Kendall,
Dr. J. P. Booth, W. H. Timmons, Wilson Hays, Geo.
Cooley, R. B. Taylor, H. A. Keller, E. E. Katz, Lewis
Jacobs, H. L. Drew, N. G. Gill, and I. W. Lord. Mr.
W. J. Curtis delivered the address of welcome. In re-
sponse the President said :
Mr. Mayor and Fellow citizens — I can only repeat to you what I
have already had occasion to say to many similar audiences assem-
bled in California, that I am delighted with my visit to the Pacific
coast; that much as I had heard of the richness and high cultiva-
23
354 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
tion, what I have seen to-day in this great valley has far surpassed
my expectations. You have subdued an unpromising soil and
made it blossom as the rose ; but better than all the fruits and har-
vests, and better than all the products of the field, is this intelligent
population which out of their kindly faces extend to us a greeting
wherever we go.
I am glad, coming from the far East, to observe how greatly our
people are alike. But that is not surprising, because I find all
through this valley many Hoosiers and Buckeyes I knew at home.
It is not singular that you should be alike when you are really and
truly the same people, not only in lineage and general characteristics,
but the same men and women we have known in the older States.
And now I thank you again, and beg you will excuse me from
further speech, with the assurance that if it were in my power I
would double the rich blessings which you already enjoy. [Cheers. ]
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 23.
IT was 8 o'clock in the evening when the presidential
train rolled into Pasadena, the home of Governor Mark-
ham. The President's reception was notable for its marked
enthusiasm. The committee of escort that met the party
at Riverside was : Hon. J. A. Buchanan, Mayor T. P.
Lukens, ex-Gov. L. A. Sheldon, Col. G. G. Green, Geo.
F. Foster, and P. M. Green. A great assemblage greeted
the President's arrival, which was celebrated by booming
cannon, ringing bells, and bonfires. The Committee of
Reception, comprising the following leading citizens, wel-
comed the President and escorted him to the hotel : Gov.
H. H. Markham, Chairman; J. H. Holmes, W. U. Mas-
ters, C. M. Simpson, Geo. F. Kernaghan, Col. J. R.
Bowler, Delos Arnold, M. M. Parker, W. H. Wiley, W.
E. Arthur, J. W. Wood, Dr. W. L. McAllister, C. D. Dag-
gett, Judge H. W. Magee, James Clarke, A. B. Manahan,
J. W. Scoville, J. E. Farnum, M. D. Painter, T. Banbury,
W. W. Webster, Prof. T. S. C. Lowe, Rev. E. L. Conger,
Rev. D. D. Hill, Rev. J. W. Phelps, Hon. A. G. Throop,
F. J. Woodbury, G. B. Ocheltree, G. A. Greely, W. L.
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. . 355
Wotkyns, C. S. Martin, A. R. Metcalfe, F. C. Bolt, E.
R. Hull, Dr. Mohr, John McDonald, Judge A. McCoy,
B. M. Wotkyns, A. K. McQuilling, S. Washburn, T.
J. Rigg, T. Eaiiey, C. S. Cristy, A. C. Armstrong, A.
McNally, J. Brock way, J. E. Howard, J. S. Hodge,
C. W. Buchanan, O. S. Picher, Dr. Thomas R. Hayes,
M. Fish, J. R. Greer, Jr., A. K. Nash, C. H. Richard-
son, J. G. Rossiter, W. T. Vore, Rev. C. E. Harris, H.
H. Rose, J. Banbury, A. Dodworth, Dr. Frary, Judge
M. C. Hester, James H. Campbell, C. C. Brown, A. H.
Conger, W. S. Wright, George Bremner, James Mc-
Lachlan, J. S. Cox, C. T. Hopkins, O. E. Weed, J. H.
Baker, L. Blankenhorn, W. S. Monroe, George F. Granger,
W. S. Gilmore, Rev. L. P. Crawford, W. E. Channing,
A. J. Painter, S. H. Doolittle, Dr. George Rodgers, E. E.
Jones, W. D. McGilvray, Webster Wotkyns, Theodore
Coleman, R. M. Furlong, J. W. Vandevoort, B. E. Ball,
E. T. Howe, H. R. Hertel, Charles Foster, G. R. Thomas,
A. F. Mills, Dr. W. B. Rowland, Dr. F. F. Rowland, Dr.
Van Slyck, Rev. J. B. Stewart, D. R. McLean, C. M.
Phillips, C. E. Tebbetts, William Heiss, H. W. Hines, H.
E. Pratt, S. R. Lippincott, J. W. Hugus, W. P. Forsyth,
O. Freeman, S. E. Locke, C. F. Holder, Capt. A. C.
Drake, Prof. J. D. Yocum, J. H. Woodworth, General
McBride, W. T. Clapp, E. H. Royce, Charles Legge, Calvin
Hartwell, J. O. Lowe, T. C. Foster, T. L. Hoag, Dr. Ezra
F. Carr, E. H. May, Dr. Mansfield, G. D. Patton, Prof. S.
C. Clark, H. H. Visscher, F. R. Harris, Capt, A. L. Hamil-
ton, J. S. Mills, H. B. Sherman, R. C. Slaughter, James
Smith, S. C. Arnold, I. 1ST. Sears, Chas. A. Smith, Wm.
Menner, S. H. Yocum, D. W. Permar, John Permar, I. N".
Wood, Emil Kayser, N. W. Bell, Rev. E. E. Scannell,
Rev. H. T. Staats, W. R. Staats, F. L. Bushnell, H. C.
Allen, Rev. A. W. Bunker, Rev. James Kelso, Judge J. P.
Nelson, C. J. Morrison, M. Rosenbaum, E. S. Frost, F. B.
Wetherby, W. J. McCaldin, A. J. Brown, Dr. Philbrook,
356 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
Captain Rogers, Dr. S. P. Swearingen, Fred McNally, J. E.
Doty, F. D. Stevens, O. Stewart Taylor, A. F. M. Strong,
C.M.Parker, C. E. Langford, G. E. Meharry, Maj. C. M.
Skillen, Judge B. F, Hoffman, Henry Washburn, Capt.
A. Wakeley, W. S. Nosworthy, J. G. Shoup, Mrs. I. B.
Winslow, Geo. W. Sheaff, Mrs. T. H. Kuhns, P. G. Woos-
ter, A. McLean, F. L. Jones, Dr. A. H. Palmer, J. J. Allen,
E. C. Webster, Arturo Bandini, Will Forbes, W. W.
Mills, Mrs. Dr. Elliott, L. C. Winston, S. S. Vaught, I.
N". Stevenson, John Habbick, Thomas Croft, Wm. J. Craig,
M. A. De Forest, R. K. Janes, C. W. Mann, John Sed-
wiek, Homer Morris, Perry Bonham, Prof. Kyle, R. W.
Lacey, Dr. J. C. Michener, A. A. Choteau, A. O. Bristol,
Dr. J. M. Radebaugh, J. F. Mullen, T. M. Livingston, G.
W.Stimson, W. E. Cooley, W.S.Arnold, W. H. Housh,
E. W. Longley, C. W. Hodson, J. D. Graham, M. E.
Wood, F. S. Wallace, Prof. W. P. Hammond, C. S.
Howard, Joseph Wallace, Robert Vandevoort, H. K. W.
Bent, John Allen, George Goings, Jeans James Coleman,
Aug. Mayer, Geo. Taylor, J. D. Requa, Rev. A. M. Mer-
win, W. B. Mosher, P. F. McGowan, G. A. Gibbs, F.
K. Burnham, and C. E. Brooks.
The women's Reception Committee to receive Mrs. Har-
rison and the other ladies in the party consisted of : Mrs.
L. A. Sheldon, Mrs. J. A. Buchanan, Mrs. J. W. Wood,
Mrs. C. D. Daggett, Mrs. J. R. Bowler, Mrs. James Clarke,
Miss Greenleaf, Mrs. W. E. Arthur, and Mrs. W. U. Mas-
ters.
It was 11 o'clock at night when the President and the
gentlemen of his party attended an elegant banquet at the
Hotel Green, over which the Hon. W. U. Masters presided.
Mr. Buchanan proposed the President's health in words of
welcome.
President Harrison, responding, said :
Gentlemen — I beg you to accept my thanks for this banquet spread
in honor of this community of strangers who have dropped in upon
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 357
you to-night. We come to you after dark. I am not, therefore,
prepared to speak of Pasadena. When the sun shall have lightened
your landscape again and our expectant eyes shall have rested upon
its glories, I shall be able to give you iny impressions of your city,
which I am already prepared to believe is one of the gems in the
crown of California. [Applause.]
Perhaps no other place in California has by name been more
familiar to me than Pasadena, if you except your great commercial
city of San Francisco. That comes from the fact that many of
your early settlers were Indiana friends. I am glad to meet some
of these friends here to-night. It is pleasant to renew these old
acquaintances, to find that they have been received with esteem in
this new community. I have found a line of Hoosiers all along
these railroads we have been traversing.
Everywhere our train has stopped some Hoosier has lifted his
hand to me, and often by dozens. As I said the other day,
Ohio men identify themselves to me by reason of that State being
my birthplace, but it is not a surprise to me to find an Ohio man
anywhere. [Laughter.] Ohio people are especially apt to be found
in the vicinity of a public office. [Laughter.] I suppose whatever
good fortune has come to me in the way of political preferment
must be traced to the fact that I am a Buckeye by birth. [Laugh-
ter. ] And now I thank you most cordially again for your attention
and kindness. California has been full of the most affectionate
interest to us. I have never looked into the faces of a more happy
and intelligent people than those I have seen on the Pacific coast.
[Applause. ]
You occupy the most important position in the sisterhood of
States, stretching for these several hundred miles along the Pacific
shore. You have fortunate birth, and your history has been a suc-
cession of fortunate surprises. You have wrought out here great
achievements in converting these plains that seemed to be so un
promising to the eye into such gardens as cannot be seen anywhere
else upon the continent. [Applause. ]
And now, when I remind you that bedtime was 1 o'clock last
night and the reveille sounded at 6 o'clock this morning on our
car, I am sure you will permit me to say good- night. [Applause.]
358 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
SAN FERNANDO, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 24.
THE first stop on Friday was at Sail Fernando, the home
of Dr. J. K. Hawks, who for twenty years was General
Harrison's near neighbor. The Committee of Reception
was: R. P. Waite, S. Maclay, J. Burr, J. S. Kerns, C.
Smith, Colonel Hubbard, Mesdames Bodkin, Hubbard,
Smith, and Misses Platt, Gower, and Jennie Hawks.
Dr. Hawks made a brief address of welcome and intro-
duced the President, who said :
Ladies and Gentlemen — I am pleased to be introduced to you by
my old and honored friend, and I do sincerely hope that he has
won your respect to the same extent which I learned to respect him
when he was my neighbor. I hope you will excuse me from speak-
ing further. I thank you all for your friendly greeting.
SANTA PAULA, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 24.
THE thriving town of Santa Paula, Ventura County,
gave the President and his party a hearty reception, dis-
tinguished above others by a truly mammoth floral piece
24 feet long by 6 feet in width, covered with calla-lilies,
and bearing the word " Welcome " in red geranium letters
40 inches in height. The Committee of Reception was :
W. L. Hardison, Chairman; Casper Taylor, Rev. F. D.
Mather, C. J. McDevitt, F. A. Morgan, F. E. Davis, J. B.
Titus, C. H. McKevett, K W. Blanchard, Dr. D. W. Mott,
C. N. Baker, A. Wooleven, Harry Youngken, and S. C.
Graham. The Major Eddy Post, G. A. R., Henry Proc-
tor, Commander, was present.
Maj. Joseph R. Haugh, an old Indianapolis acquaint-
ance, welcomed the President on behalf of the commit-
tee. President Harrison, replying, said :
My Friends — I cannot feel myself a stranger in this State, so dis-
tant from home, when I am greeted by some familiar faces from
my Indiana home at almost every station. Your fellow-citizen who
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 359
lias spoken in your behalf was an old-time Indianapolis friend. I
hope he is held in the same esteem in which he was held by the
people among whom he spent his early years as a boy and man.
[Cries of "He is!"] That you should have gone to the pains to
make such magnificent decorations and to come out in such large
numbers for this momentary greeting very deeply touches my heart.
I have never seen in any State of the Union what seems to me to
be a more happy and contented people than I have seen this morn-
ing. Your soil and sun are genial, healthful, and productive, and
I have no doubt that these genial and kindly influences are mani-
fested in the homes that are represented here, and that there is
sunshine in the household as well as in the fields ; that there is con-
tentment and love and sweetness in these homes as well as in these
gardens that are so adorned with flowers. Our pathway has been
strewn with flowers ; we have literally driven for miles over flowers
that in the East would have been priceless, and these favors have
all been accompanied with manifestations of friendliness for which
I am very grateful, and everywhere there has been set up as having
greater glory than sunshine, greater glory than flowers, this flag
of our country. [Applause.] Everywhere I have been greeted by
some of these comrades, veterans of the late war, whose presence
among you should be the inspiration to increased patriotism and
loyalty. I bid them affectionate greeting, and am sorry that I
cannot tarry with them longer. [Cheers.]
SAN BUENAVENTURA, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 24.
THREE thousand people welcomed the party at San
Buenaventura, including nearly 1,000 school-children, who
bounteously provided the President and Mrs. Harrison
with flowers. The Reception Committee consisted of:
Mayor J. S. Collins, J. R. Willoughby, E. M. Jones, P.
Bennett, C. D. Bonestel, 1ST. H. Shaw, and Gushing Post,
G. A. R., D. M. Rodibaugh, Commander.
Gen. William Vandever welcomed the party, and the
President spoke as follows :
My Friends — I am very glad to meet my old friend and your for-
mer representative, General Vandever. I have had some surprise
at almost every station at which we have stopped. I did not know
until he came upon the platform that this was his home. I have
360 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
not time to make a speech, and I have not the voice to make one.
I can only say of these hearty and friendly Californians that my
heart is deeply touched with this evidence of friendly regard. You
have strewn my way with flowers , you have graced every occa-
sion, even the briefest stop, with a most friendly greeting, and I
assure you that we are most grateful for it all. You are fortunate
in your location among the States ; and I am sure that in all this
great republic nowhere is there a more loyal and patriotic people
than we have here on the Pacific coast. I thank you again for this
greeting. [Cheers. ]
SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 24.
THE reception at Santa Barbara was the most unique
that the presidential party experienced on their trip, and
also one of the most enjoyable ; it was a veritable flower
carnival.
Leading the procession was a Spanish cavalcade com-
manded by Carlos de la Guerra. The President's escort
was a cavalcade of children marshalled by Mrs. Schermer-
horn, with flower-decked saddles and bridles; then fol-
lowed over 100 flower-trimmed equipages, each displaying
a different design and flower and bespeaking the marvel-
lous flora of Santa Barbara in the month of April. The
stand from whence the President reviewed the procession
and witnessed the Battle of Flowers was a floral triumph ;
20,000 calla-lilies were used in its decoration and as many
bright-colored flowers. The battle scene occurred on the
grand stand, immediately opposite the reviewing stand,
between several hundred ladies and gentlemen. The
whole was a spectacle to be witnessed but once in a life-
time. The parade was under the direction of Grand Mar-
shal D. W. Thompson, assisted by specal aids George
Culbertson, Dr. H. L. Stambach, T, R. Moore, Samuel
Stanwood, Paschal Hocker, and C. A. Fernald. The Com-
mittee of Reception comprised Mayor P. J. Barber, C. F.
Eaton, W. W. Burton, W. C. Clerk, I. G. Waterman, D.
Baxter, E. P. Roe, Jr., C. E. Bigelow, Alston Hayne,
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 3G1
Frank Stoddard, L. P. Lincoln, W. K Hawley, J. W.
Calkins, Geo. A. Edwards, C. C. Hunt, Edward M. Hoit,
Hon. E. H. Heacock, Dr. J. M. McNulta, W. B. Cope, C. F.
Swan, W. M. Eddy, J. C. Wilson, K. B. Canfield; also,
Joseph Sexton, of Goleta; E. J. Knapp, of Carpinteria; T.
R. Bard, of Hueneme; K. E. Jack and E. W. Steele, of San
Luis Obispo; H. H. Poland, of Lompoc, and Dr. W. T.
Lucas and Thomas Boyd, of Santa Maria. Starr King
Post, G. A. R., C. A. Storke, Commander, participated in
the reception.
After witnessing the parade the entire party, including
the ladies, visited the ancient Mission of Santa Barbara
and were taken within its sacred precincts, it being the
second occasion on which any woman was admitted. At
night they witnessed a Spanish dance, conducted by many
ladies and gentlemen, under the direction of F. M. Whit-
ney, Mrs. Bell, and Mrs. Dibblee. The eventful day closed
with a public reception, participated in by 15,000 people.
Gen. Wm. Vandever delivered an address of welcome,
to which the President, responding, said :
General Vandever, Gentlemen of the Committee and Friends —
If I have been in any doubt as to the fact of the perfect identity
of your people with the American Nation, that doubt has been dis-
placed by one incident which has been prominent in all this trip,
and that is that the great and predominant and all-pervading Amer-
ican habit of demanding a speech on every occasion has been char-
acteristically prominent in California. [Laughter.] I am more
than delighted by this visit to your city. It has been made brill-
iant with the display of banners and flowers — one the emblem of
our national greatness and prowess, the other the adornment which
God has given to beautify nature. With all this I am sure I have
read in the faces of the men, women and children who have greeted
me that these things— these flowers of the field and this flag, repre-
senting organized government— typify what is to be found in the
homes of California. The expression of your welcome to-day has
been unique and tasteful beyond description. I have not the words
to express the high sense of appreciation and the amazement that
filled the minds of all our party* as we looked upon this display
which you have improvised for our reception. No element of
3G2 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
beauty, no ^element of taste, no element of gracious kindness lias
been lacking in it, and for that \ve tender you all our most hearty
thanks. We shall keep this visit a bright spot in our memories.
[Applause. ]
BAKERSFIELD, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 25.
THE first stop of the presidential train on Friday, April
25, was at Bakersfield, the gateway of the famous San
Joaquin Valley, which was reached at 8 : 30 in the morn-
ing. Fifteen hundred residents greeted the President, who
was met by W. E. Houghton, W. H. Scribner, W. Can-
field, and C. E. Sherman, constituting a special Commit-
tee of Reception. The general committee for the occasion
comprised the following prominent citizens : N. R. Pack-
ard, E. M. Roberts, John J. Morrison, Emil Dinkelspiel,
H. L. Borgwardt, Jr., J. Neideraur, P. Galtes, O. D. Fish,
H. A. Jastro, Geo. K. Ober, Dr. Helm, J. J. Mack, E. A.
Pueschel, S. K Reed, H. A. Blodget, C. A. Maul, Chas. E.
Jewett, A. Harrell, G. W. Wear, Wm. Montgomery, John
Barker, H. P. Olds, E. Willow, B. Brundage, B. A. Hay-
den, F. H. Colton, W. H. Cook, B. Ardizzi, C. C. Cow-
gill, L. S. Rogers, John O. Miller, Geo. G. Carr,- N. R.
Wilkinson, A. Weill, H. C. Lechner, S. W. Wible, Dr.
John Snook, L. McKelvy, A. Morgan, E. C. Palmes,
John S. Drury, W. A. Howell, A. C. Maude, Chas. Van-
clever, Alonzo Coons, T. A. Metcalf, R. M. Walker, Rich-
ard Hudnut, Sol. Jewett, J. C. Smith, S. A. Burnap, H.
H. Fish, S. W. Fergusson, J. W. Mahon, A. Fay, Chas.
Bickirdike, H. F. Condict, H. C. Park, and I. L. Miller.
A large number of beautiful bouquets were showered
upon the party here. Judge A. R. Conklin made the wel-
coming address. President Harrison spoke as follows :
My Friends — I am very much obliged to you for your friendly
greeting and for these bouquets. You must excuse me if I seem a
little shy of the bouquets. I received one in my eye the other
day which gave me a good deal of trouble. You are very kind to
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 363
meet us here so early in the morning with this cordial demonstra-
tion. It has been a very long journey, and has been accompanied
with some fatigue of travel, but we feel this morning, in this
exhilarating air and this sweet sunshine, and refreshed with your
kind greeting, as bright and more happy than when we left the
national capital.
I am glad to feel that here, on the western edge of the continent,
in this Pacific State, there is that same enthusiastic love for the
flag, that same veneration and respect for American institutions,
for the one Union and the one Constitution, that is found in the
heart of the country. We are one people absolutely. We follow
not men, but institutions. We are happy in the fact that though
men may live or die, come or go, we still have that toward which
the American citizen turns with confidence and veneration — this
great Union of the States devised so happily by our fathers. Gen-
eral Garfield, when Mr. Lincoln was stricken down by the foul
hand of an assassin, and when that great wave of dismay and grief
swept over the land, standing in a busy thoroughfare of New York,
could say : " The Government at Washington still lives. " It is
dependent upon no man. It is lodged safely in the affections of
the people, and having its impregnable defence and its assured
perpetuity in their love and veneration for law. [Cheers.]
TULARE, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 25.
TULA RE was reached at 10 o'clock. Nearly 0,000 peo-
ple awaited the President's arrival. Capt. Thomas H.
Thompson, E. W. Holland, and Hon. O. B. Taylor met
the distinguished travellers. The other members of the
committee were: Hon. John. G. Eckles, Hon. J. O. Love-
joy, I. N. Wright, J. Wolfrom, E. T. Cosper, Hon. J. W.
Davis, Sam Richardson, Dr. C. F. Taggart, M. W. Cooley,
H. H. Francisco, C. C. Brock, James Scoon, D. O. Ham-
man, J. L. Bachelder, R. B. Bohannan, James Morton,
A. O. Erwin, J. B. Zumwalt, Hon. E. De Witt, Alfred
Fay, J. H. Whited, J. A. Goble, W. L. Blythe, M. M.
Burnett, Scott Bowles, R. L. Reid, F. M. Shultz, B. F.
Moore, F. Rosen thai, Henry Peard, Sam Blythe, J. A.
Allen, E. Lathrop, E. J. Cox, J. F. Boiler, Hon. G. S.
364 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
Berry, R. Linder, Miles Ellsworth, R. 1ST. Hough, C. F.
Hall, Dr. E. W. Dutcher, M. Premo, Hon. John Roth, A.
Borders, T. W. Maples, E. D. Lake, S. S. Ingham, D. W.
Madden, Sam Newell, M. C. Hamlin, W. C. Ambrose, H.
C. Faber, C. Talbot, L. E. Schoenemann, M. C. Hunt,
G. W. Zartman, A. P. Hall, J. H. Woody, Isaac Roberts,
Capt. E. Oakford, J. C. Gist, H. F. Tandy, C. F. Stone,
and Dr. B. M. Alford.
The committee escorted the presidential party to a
unique platform constructed inside the stump of a gigan-
tic redwood tree, and there was ample seating capacity
upon the platform for the entire party; about the base of
the great stump were arranged boxes of elegant flowers.
Mrs. Harrison and the other ladies in the party were es-
corted to the stand by Mrs. E. B. Oakford, Mrs. T. H.
Thompson, Mrs. G. J. Reading, and Mrs. Patrick, of
Visalia. Gettysburg Post, G. A. R., and Company E,
from Visalia, were a guard of honor to the Chief Magis-
trate.
Governor Markham introduced the President, who spoke
as follows:
My Friends — This seems to be a very happy and smiling audience,
and I am sure thai the gladness which is in your hearts and in
your faces does not depend at all upon the presence of this little
company of strangers who tarry with you for a moment. It is
horn of influences and conditions that are permanent. It comes of
the happy sunshine and sweet air that are over your fields, and still
more from the contentment, prosperity, and love and peace that
are in your households. California has been spoken of as a won-
derland, and everywhere we have gone something new, interesting,
and surprising has been presented to our observation. There has
been but one monotone in our journey, and that is the monotone of
universal welcome from all your people. [Cheers.] Everything
else has been new and exceptional at every stop.
My own heart kindles with gladness, my own confidence in
American interests is firmer and more settled as I mingle with the
great masses of our people. You are here in a great agricultural
region, reclaimed from desert waste by the skill and energy of
man — a region populated by a substantial, industrious, thrifty,
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 365
God-fearing people, a people devoted to the institutions under
which they live, proud to be Americans, feeling that the American
birthright is the best heritage they can hand down to their chil-
dren ; proud of the great story of our countiy from the time of inde-
pendence to this day ; devoted to institutions that give the largest
liberty to the individual and at the same time secure social order.
Here is the firm foundation upon which our hopes for future
security rest. What but our own neglect, what but our own
unfaithfulness, can put in peril either our national institutions or
our local organizations of government? True to ourselves, true to
those principles which we have embodied in our Government, there
is to the human eye no danger that can threaten the firm base of
our institutions.
I am glad to see and meet these happy children. I feel like
kneeling to them as the future sovereigns of this country, and feel
as if it were a profanation to tread upon these sweet flowers that
they have spread in my pathway. God bless them, every one;
keep them in the lives they are to live from all that is evil, fill
their little hearts with sunshine and their mature lives with grace
and usefulness. [Cheers.]
FRESNO, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 25.
A CROWD of 10,000 greeted the party at Fresno; up-
ward of 1,000 school children were present, led by Profes-
sors Heaton, Sturges, and Sheldon. The Committee of
Reception consisted of Mayor S. H. Cole, Dr. Chester A.
Rowell, F. G. Berry, Dr. A. J. Pedlar, Dr. St. George
Hopkins, W. W. Phillips, I. N. Pattison, Louis Einstein,
Nathan W. Moodey, C. W. De Long, and J. C. Herring-
ton. Altanta Post, G. A. R., Capt. Fred Banta, Com-
mander, also Company C, National Guard, Capt. M. W.
Muller, and Company F, Capt. C. Chisholm, participated
in the reception. A number of handsome floral designs
and other mementoes were presented to the several mem-
bers of the party.
Dr. Rowell delivered the welcoming address. President
Harrison, responding, said :
HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
My Fellow -citizens — It is altogether impossible for me to reach
with my voice this vast concourse of friends. I can only say I am
profoundly grateful for this enthusiastic greeting. I receive with
great satisfaction the memento you have given me of the varied
products of this most fertile and happy valley. I shall carry it
\vith me to Washington as a reminder of a scene that will never
fade from my memory. It is very pleasant to know that all these
pursuits that so much engage your thoughts and so industriously
employ your time have not turned your minds away from the love
of the flag and of those institutions which spread their secure
power over all your homes. What is it that makes the scattered
homes of our people secure? There is no policeman at the door;
there is no guard to accompany us as we move across this great
continent. You and I are in the safe keeping of the law and of
the affection and regard of all our people. Each respects the rights
of the other. I am glad to receive this manifestation of your
respect. I am glad to drink in this morning with this sunshine
and this sweet balmy air a new impulse to public duty, a new love
for the Union and flag. It is a matter of great regret that I can
return in such a small measure your affectionate greeting. I wish
it were possible I could greet each one of you personally, that it
were possible in some way other than in words to testify to you
my grateful sense of your good-will. [Cheers. ]
MERCED, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 25.
THE presidential party arrived at Merced shortly after
noon and was welcomed by several thousand enthusiastic
residents. The Committee of Reception was composed
of the following representative citizens: E. T. Dixon,
Maj. G. B. Cook, L. R. Fancher, C. H. Marks, E. M.
Stoddard, S. A. D. Jones, Frank Howell, W. J. Quigley,
M. Goldman, C. E. Fleming, J. H. Rogers, J. A. Nor-
vell, Thomas Harris, Maj. C. Ralston, F. H. Farrar,
R. N. Hughes, Judge J. K. Law, Thomas H. Leggett,
and H. J. Ostrander. Hancock Post, G. A. R., J. Q.
Blackburn, Commander, participated in the reception.
Three little girls, Dottie Nor veil, Mattie Hall, and Baby
Ingalsbe, representing the citizens of Merced, presented
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 3G7
Mrs. Harrison with a beautiful souvenir in the shape of a
large American flag woven from roses and violets.
Chairman Dixon made the welcoming address, and
President Harrison replied in the following words :
My Fellow-citizens — I have scarcely been able to finish a meal
since I have been in California. [Laughter. ] I find myself hardly
seated at the table till some one reminds me that in about five
minutes I am to meet another throng- of cordial and friendly peo-
ple. But I think I could have subsisted on this trip through Cali-
fornia without anything to eat, and have dined the while upon the
stimulus and inspiration which your good-will and kindly greet-
ings have given me. I do not think, however, from what I have
seen of these valleys, that it will be necessary for any one to live
\vithout eating. [Laughter.] I have been greatly delighted with
the agricultural richness, with the surprises in natural scenery, and
in the production which have met us on this journey. Everywhere
something has been lying in ambush for us, and when I was think-
ing of prunes and English walnuts and oranges we suddenly pulled
up to a station where they had a pyramid of pig tin to excite our
wonder and interest at the variety of the production in this mar-
vellous State. But let me say, above all those fruits and flowers,
above all these productions of mine and field, I have been most
pleased with the men and women of California. [Applause.] It
gives me great pleasure, too, to meet everywhere these little ones.
I am fond of children. They attract my interest always, and the
little ones of my own household furnish about the only relaxation
and pleasure I have at Washington. [Applause.] I wish for your
children and for you, out of whose homes they come, and where
they are treasured with priceless affection and tender supervision,
all the blessings that a benign Providence and a good Government
can bestow. I shall be glad if in any way I have the opportunity
to conserve and promote your interests. [Cheers. ]
MODESTO, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 25.
MODESTO was reached at 2:40 P.M. The veterans of
Grant Post, G. A. R., with Company D, N. G. C., and
several hundred citizens, gave the President a rousing
greeting. The Committee of Reception was Hon. John 8.
Alexander, Charles A. Post, and Rev. Dr. Webb.
308 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
George Perley introduced President Harrison, who
spoke as follows :
Fellow-citizens — It is very pleasant for me to meet here, as at all
the stations I have passed, a kindly assembly of my fellow-country-
men. We do not need any one to watch us, nor do we need to keep
watch against anybody else. Peace and good-will characterize our
communities. I was quite amused at a station not far from here
to hear a wondering Chinaman remark as he came up to the train,
"Why, they have no guns on board!" [Laughter.] How different
it is with us ! — no retinue, no guards. We travel across this broad
country safe in the confidence and fellowship and kindness of its
citizenship. What other land is there like it? Where else are
there homes like ours? Where else institutions so free and yet so
adequate to all the needs of government, to make the home and
community safe, to restrain the ill-disposed, and everywhere to
promote peace and individual happiness?
We congratulate each other that we are American citizens.
Without distinction of party, without taking note of the many
existing differences of opinion, we are all glad to do all in our
power to promote the dignity and prosperity of the country we
love. We cannot love it too much ; we cannot be too careful that
all our influence is on the side of good government and of Ameri-
can interests. We do not wish ill to any other nation or people in
the world, but they must excuse us if we regard our own fellow-
citizens as having the highest claim on our regard. We will
promote such measures as look to our own interests. [Cheers. J
LATHROP, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 25.
THE President's arrival at Lathrop was celebrated by
several thousand residents, re-enforced by large delegations
from the neighboring city of Stockton. The Committee
of Reception consisted of James J. Sloan, A. Henry
Stevens, Z. T. White, O. H. P. Bailey, E. Jesurun, T.
B. Walker, W. S. Reyner, D. Sanguinite, Geo. H. Seay,
O. D. Wilson, C. F. Sherburne, F. D. Simpson, and F. J.
Walker. The Committee of Reception appointed by the
Mayor of Stockton, and participating in behalf of that
city, was J. K. Doak, F. J. Ryan, I. S. Haines, Willis
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 369
Lynch, H. R. McNoble, J. M. Dormer, and F. T. Baldwin.
A feature of the reception was 100 school children, each
carrying a bouquet, which they presented to the President
and Mrs. Harrison, both of whom kissed several of the
little donors. Postmaster Sloan delivered the welcoming
address. The President, responding, said :
My Fellow -citizens — I should be less than human if I were not
touched by the rapid succession of hearty greetings received by us
in our journey through California. I should be more than human
if I were able to say something new or interesting at each of these
assemblies.
My heart has but one language : it is, " I thank you. "
Most tenderly do I feel as an individual so much of this kindness
as is personal to me, and as a public official I am most profoundly
grateful that the American people so unitedly show their love and
devotion to the Constitution and the flag.
We have a Government of the majority ; it is the original com-
pact that when the majority has been fairly counted at the polls,
the expressed \vill of that majority, taking the form of public law
enacted by State Legislatures or the national Congress, shall be the
sole rule of conduct of every loyal man. [Cheers.]
We have no other king than law, and he is entitled to the alle-
giance of every heart and bowed knee of every citizen. [Cries of
"Good! good!" and cheers. ]
I cannot look forward with any human apprehension to any
danger to our country, unless it approaches us through a corrupt
ballot-box. [Applause. ] Let us keep that spring pure, and these
happy valleys shall teem with an increasing population of happy
citizens, and our country shall find in an increasing population
only increased unity and strength. [Cheers.]
SAN FEANCISCO, APRIL 25.
AT Keyes Station, near Merced, the presidential train
was joined by a special car containing the San Francisco
escort committee. The following gentlemen composed
the party and represented the organizations named : Mex-
ican Veterans — Maj. R. P. Hammond. California Pio-
neers— L. L. Baker, W. B. Farwell, Nathaniel Holland,
370 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
and Col. A. W. von Schmidt. Citizens' Committee — E.
S. Pillsbury, J. B. Crockett, M. M. Estee, Irving M. Scott,
W. D. English, and Rev. Dr. Samuel V. Leech. Loyal
Legion and Grand Army of the Republic — Chief Engineer
J.W.Moore, U. S. N"., Commander Loyal Legion; Past
Senior Yice-Commander-in-Chief S. W. Backus; Past
Department Commanders W. H. Aiken, E. Carlson, C.
Mason Kinne, W. A. Robinson, R. H. Marfield, W. R.
Smedburg, E. S. Salomon, T. H. Goodman, G. E. Gard,
and A. J. Buckles; Past Junior Vice-Commander Jesse B.
Fuller, Adjt.-Gen. T. C. Mastellar, Past Commander J. M.
Litchfield, Congressmen E. P. Loud and John T. Cutting,
comrades J. P. Meehan, S. S. Flint, and A. J. Hawes.
Seven o'clock Saturday evening the boom of cannon and
clang of bells signalized the President's arrival at Oak-
land, where he immediately embarked on the ferry steamer
Piedmont for passage across the bay. On board the Pied-
mont, in addition to the veteran guard of the G. A. R.,
commanded by Capt. Geo. F. Knowltoii, Jr., and Lieu-
tenants Wiegand, Franks and Stateler, were the following
prominent residents : Senator and Mrs. Leland Stanford,
A. N. Towne, R. H. Platt, A. J. Bolfing, H. C. Bunker,
C. F. Bassett, Maj. J. N. E. Wilson, Capt. G. D. Boyd, J.
C. Quinn, Geo. L. Seybolt, George Sanderson, J. Steppa-
cher, Ass't Postmaster Richardson, G. W. Fletcher, Mrs.
Peter Donohue, Mrs. Geo. R. Sanderson, Mrs. James Den-
man, Mrs. W. W. Morrow, Mrs. Joseph McKenna, Mrs.
M. Ehrman, Mrs. E. Martin, and Mrs. J. D. Spreckels.
The scene of the Piedmont crossing the bay, illuminated
with thousands of lights, covered with flying flags, and
greeted by all the craft in the harbor with myriads of
rockets and lights, was a bewildering spectacle. At a
signal great tongues of flame shot up from the summits of
Telegraph and Nob hills, and the monstrous bonfires from
the deck of the Piedmont resembled volcanoes. The en-
tire population of the city came out to do honor to the head
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 371
of the Nation, and the principal streets were beautifully
illuminated.
As the President descended on the arm of Hon. W. W.
Morrow he was met on the wharf by Mayor George H.
Sanderson, Col. Basil Norris, Lieut. -Col. Geo. H. Burton,
Lieut. -Col. John P. Hawkins, Maj. Frank M. Coxe, Maj.
Edward Hunter, Maj. James H. Lord, Capt. Chas. N.
Booth, and First Lieutenants L. A. Lovering and James
E. Runcie, of the regular army; General Dickinson and
staff and city officials. Mayor Sanderson formally wel-
comed the President and presented him a beautiful gold
tablet bearing a resolution of the Board of Supervisors ten-
dering the freedom of the city and county of San Fran-
cisco.
In response the President said :
Mr. Mayor — I have received with great gratification these words
of welcome which you have extended to me on behalf of the city
of San Francisco. They are but new expressions of the •welcome
which has been extended to me since I entered the State of Cali-
fornia. Its greatness and glory I knew something of by story and
tradition, but what I have seen of its resources has quite surpassed
my imagination. But what has deeply impressed me is the loyal
and intelligent and warm-hearted people I have everywhere met.
I thank you for this reception.
SAN FRANCISCO, APRIL 27.
MONDAY, April 27, the President and his party reviewed
many thousand school children assembled on Van Ness
Avenue. Escorted by Mayor Sanderson, General Ruger,
and other distinguished citizens, the party were driven
through the famous Golden Gate Park. At the entrance
the President was met and welcomed by Park Commis-
sioner Hammond, while awaiting the guests inside was a
reception committee consisting of E. S. Pilsbury, W. D.
English, General Sheehan, Chief Crowley, C. F. Crocker,
Mr. and Mrs. W. B. Wilshire, Judge Hawley, of Nevada,
372 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
ex-Mayor Pond, Colonel Taylor, Marshal Long, Park Com-
missioner Austin, Mr. and Mrs. Francis G. Newlands,
Samuel Shortridge, C. M. Leavy, Surveyor-General Pratt,
Mr. and Mrs. J. B. Le Count, Mr. and Mrs. E. P. Danforth,
Colonel and Mrs. J. B. Wright, of Sacramento, Mr. and
Mrs. Wendell Easton, Mr. Gregory, Mr. and Mrs. Paris
Kilbourn, Mr. and Mrs. Timothy G. Phelps, Senator Car-
penter, of Los Angeles, Miss Harriet Bolinger, Mr. and
Mrs. Bolinger, District Attorney Garter, Mrs. Judge W.
T. Wallace, F. W. Sharon, T. B. Shannon, Mrs. B. L.
Haseltine, and others.
The reception concluded, the drive was continued to
the Cliff House, overlooking Seal Eocks ; from thence the
party visited Sutro Heights and became the guests of
Mr. Adolph Sutro. At the close of luncheon Mr. Sutro,
addressing President Harrison, said in part :
Mr. President — I rise to present you a photo-lithographic letter
written by Sebastian Viscano, the great Spanish navigator. This
is probably the first letter in existence written by any human being
from California. It is dated at the port of Monterey, December
28, 1602, named in honor of the Conde de Monterey, then Viceroy
of Mexico. It is addressed to the Court of Spain, and states that
he (Viscano) had taken possession of this country for his majesty.
The original of this letter I found in hunting through the Ar-
chives de las Indias at Seville, Spain. At the date of this letter
Queen Elizabeth was still on the throne of England, Louis XIV. of
France was not born yet, and the Pilgrim Fathers had not yet
landed on Plymouth Rock.
Mr. President, we all thank you for having come to see our
beautiful land, and permit me especially to thank you for the
honor of your visit to Sutro Heights.
With the closing words Mr. Sutro extended to the Presi-
dent a red plush album inclosing the letter. President
Harrison, in accepting it, said :
I beg to thank you both for this letter and your generous wel-
come to a spot the natural beauty of which has been so much
enhanced by your efforts. My visit to Sutro Heights, the cliff, and
park will be a red-letter day in my journey.
HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
The next visit was to the Presidio, where the President
and General Ruger witnessed the brilliant manoeuvres of
the troops. Lieutenant-Colonel Graham was in command ;
Captain Zalinski was the officer of the day. Captain Mor-
ris led the heavy artillery ; Captains Brinkle and Kinzie
commanded the mounted batteries ; Colonel Mills headed
the cavalry aided by Captains Wood and Dorst.
Phi Delta Theta.
In the evening the President attended a banquet in his
honor by California Alpha Chapter of the State University
of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity, of which Mr. Harrison
is a member. George E. de Golbia presided. When the
President arrived he was greeted with the fraternity
cheer. J. 1ST. E. Wilson introduced the honored guest
and proposed the health of "the President."
General Harrison, responding, said:
My Friends and Brothers in this Old Society — I en joy this moment
very much in being able to associate with you. I was a member
of the first chapter of this fraternity, which you all know was
founded at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. I have not lost the im-
pression of solemnity and reverence which I experienced hunting
in the dark in those early times to find my chapter room, and I
am very glad to know that those meetings were not meetings in
the dark. I belonged to the order when it was young, and now I
find its members scattered in all States, where they all hold posi-
tions of trust and influence. I find that in its history it has pro-
duced nothing discreditable to itself, but always something of
which we may all well be proud. I thank you for these few
moments of association with you. [Cheers.]
At night President and Mrs. Harrison, Secretary Rusk,
and Postmaster- General Wanamaker attended an official
card reception at the Palace Hotel, tendered by the citizens
of San Francisco. The visitors were introduced by Col.
J. P. Jackson and George R. Sanderson. The occasion
was one of unusual brilliancy, rendered especially so by
the presence of Admiral A. E. K. Benham and the officers
of the fleet, Gen. Thomas H. Ruger, Gen. G. D. Green, Gen.
374 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
John P. Hawkins, Gen. John G, Chandler, Col. Geo. 1ST.
Burton, and a hundred or more other officers of the regular
army; Governor Markham and staff in full uniform, Maj.
Gen. W. H. Dimond and staff, Gen. J. H. Dickinson, and
scores of officers of the National Guard, and a thousand or
more private citizens of prominence accompanied by their
wives.
SAN FRANCISCO, APRIL 28.
Launch of the Monterey.
TUESDAY, April 28, the President enjoyed an excursion
on the bay on board the steamer Puebla. Following the
Pueblo, came the cruiser Charleston, literally covered with
bunting, and with booming guns, leading a long line of
vessels. The presidential party was accompanied by
Mayor Sanderson, Colonel Andrews, Supervisor Jackson,
Colonel Marceau, Colonel Chadbourne, General Gibbon,
Collector Phelps, Capt. C. M. Goodall, General Cutting,
W. T. Coleman, Wm. Dargie, W. G. Harrison, W. D.
English, Stewart Menzies, Judge Murphy, Judge Troutt,
Barry Baldwin, A. E. Castle, A. Chesebrough, Martin Cor-
coran, W. D. Clarke, W. R. Hearst, J. G. Fair, W. J. But-
ton, W. F. Goad, Wm. Harney, John P. Irish, J. D.
Spreckels, Leon Sloss, Levi Strauss, A. W. Scott, W. S.
Tevis, C. L. Taylor, J. H. Wise, C. E. Whitney, R. J. Wil-
son, James. D.Phelan, R. H. Pease, Arthur Rodgers, F. W.
Sumner, F. J. Symmes, N. T. James, G. L. Bradner, C. F.
Mull ins, Geo. A. Moore, T. C. Grant, and other gentlemen
of prominence.
In the afternoon, at the Union Iron Works, the Presi-
dent and Mrs. Harrison participated in the launch of the
armored coast-defence vessel Monterey. Mrs. Harrison
pressed the button which signalized the launching of the
great ship, and Miss Gunn, daughter of J. O'B. Gunn,
christened the ship with a bottle of California champagne.
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 375
On the platform with the President's party were Henry
T. Scott and Irving M. Scott, builders of the Monterey;
master shipwright Geo. W. Dickie, Governor Markham,
and other prominent people.
In the evening the distinguished visitors attended a
banquet and reception at the mansion of Senator and
Mrs. Leland Stanford. Nineteen couples sat down at the
sumptuous table. They comprised the President and
Mrs. Stanford, Senator Stanford and Mrs. Harrison, Gov-
ernor Markham and Mrs. Lowe, General Wanamaker
and Mrs. Benham, Secretary Rusk and Mrs. Markham,
General Ruger and Mrs. Russell Harrison, Admiral Ben-
ham and Mrs. Morrow, Col. Lloyd Tevis and Mrs. Dim-
mick, Mayor Sanderson and Mrs. Boyd, Hon. M. M. Estee
and Mrs. Moses Hopkins, Col. C. F. Crocker and Miss
Houghton, Senator Felton and Mrs. McKee, Mr. Russell
B. Harrison and Mrs. T. Hopkins, Col. J. P. Jackson and
Mrs. Dodge, Mr. Geo. W. Boyd and Mrs. Hewes, Hon.
W. W. Morrow and Mrs. Estee, Mr. Irving M. Scott and
Mrs. Jackson, Major Sanger and Mrs. Gwin, Mr. H. L.
Dodge and Mrs. Easton. In the Pompeiian parlor of the
mansion the President, with Mrs. Harrison and Senator
and Mrs. Stanford, received the thousand or more guests,
who comprised the prominent society people of San
Francisco and many other cities on the coast.
REDWOOD CITY, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 29.
LEAVING San Francisco on Wednesday, April 29, the
President spent the morning at Senator Stanford's famous
Palo Alto ranch. The first stop en route to Monterey was
at Redwood City, where a large and enthusiastic crowd,
including 200 school children, welcomed the President.
Geo. S. Evans Post, G. A. R., C. D. Harkins, Commander,
was present. Among the prominent citizens participating
were: H. R. Judah, of San Mateo; Geo. C. Ross, W. R.
37G HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
Welch, Geo. W. Lovie, John Poole, Henry Buger, Sheriff
Kiiine, Marshal Jamieson, and Judge Geo. H. Buck, who
delivered the speech of welcome and presented the Presi-
dent, on behalf of the citizens, with a polished redwood
tablet two feet in width.
As the train moved off President Harrison said :
My Friends — I am sorry that I can say nothing more to you in
the limited time we have than that I am sincerely thankful for
your friendly demonstration.
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 29.
ARRIVING at San Jose the President remained an hour
and reviewed a parade in his honor. He was received at
the depot by Mayor S. N. Rucker at the head of the fol-
lowing Committee of Reception : Judge John Rejmolds,
Judge F. E. Spencer, D. B. Moody, R. O. Shively, S. F.
Lieb, V. A. Schellar, C. M. Shortridge, T. E. Beans, L. G.
Nesmith, C. T. Ryland, O. A. Hale, H. W. Wright, J. W.
Rea, C. T. Park, A. McDonald, C. T. Settle, H. M. Leonard,
B. D. Murphy, J. H. Henry, A. E. Mintie, S. F. Ayer,
Judge W. G. Lorigan, and H. V. Morehouse. Mayor
Rucker delivered the address of welcome at the court
house.
President Harrison, responding, said.
Mr. Mayor and Fellow- citizens — I am again surprised by this large
outpouring of my friends and by the respectful interest which
they evince. I cannot find words to express the delight which I have
felt and which those who journey with me have felt as we have
observed the beauty and, more than all, the comfort and prosperity
which characterize the great State of California. I am glad to
observe here, as I have elsewhere, that my old comrades of the
great war for the Union have turned out to witness afresh by this
demonstration their love for the flag and fcheir veneration for
American institutions.
My comrades, I greet you, every one, affectionately. I doubt
not that every loyal State has representatives here of that great
army that subdued the rebellion and brought home the flag in tri-
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 377
nmph. I hope that you have found in this flowery and prosperous
land, in the happy homes which you have builded up here, in the
wives and children that grace your firesides, a sweet contrast to
those times of peril and hardship which you experienced in the
army, and I trust above all that under these genial and kindly
influences you still maintain your devotion to our institutions and
are teaching it to the children that shall take your places.
We often speak of the children following in the footsteps of their
fathers. A year ago nearly, in Boston, at the great review of the
Grand Army of the Republic, after those thousands of veterans,
stricken with years and labor, had passed along, a great army,
nearly as large, came on with the swinging step that characterized
you when you carried the flag from your home to the field. They
were the sons of veterans, literally marching in their fathers'
steps ; and so I love to think that in the hands of this generation
that is coming on to take our places our institutions are safe and
the honor and glory of the flag will be maintained. We may
quietly go to our rest when God shall call us, in the full assurance
that His favoring providence will follow us, and that in your
children valor and sacrifice for the flag will always manifest them-
selves on every occasion.
Again thanking you for your presence and friendly interest, I
must beg you to excuse further speech, as we must journey on to
other scenes like this. Good -by and God bless you, comrades.
GILROY, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 29.
Two thousand people welcomed the President on his
arrival at Gilroy at 6 o'clock in the evening. The floral
decorations were particularly fine; the. piece attracting the
greatest attention was a life-size white bear made of tea-
roses. The Committee of Reception was Mayor Loupe,
Thomas Rea, Geo. E. Hersey, Victor Bassignsno, F. W.
Blake, Professor Hall, and Messrs. Eckhart, Casey, and
Cleveland.
Mayor Loupe introduced the President, who made one
of his briefest speeches. He said :
My Friends— It gives me great pleasure to see you for a moment,
and thank you for your kindness in coming out on this occasion.
378 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
In all my travels I have never seen a more intelligent and happy
people than I have met in California. Let me introduce you to
Mr. Wanamaker.
WATSONVILLE, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 29.
AT Pajaro Station the presidential party was welcomed
by the Board of Trustees and 2,000 residents of the thriving
city of Watsonville, in the beautiful Pajaro Valley. Six
hundred school children and a young ladies' zouave com-
pany participated in the greeting. The Committee of Re-
ception comprised the Board of Trustees, E. H. Madden,
T. J. Horgaii, James A. Linscott, H. P. Brassell, and the
following prominent citizens of Watsonville : W. A. San-
born, A. B. Hawkins, Geo. A. Shearer, Geo. W. Peck-
ham, W. R. Radcliff, J. A. Hetherington, James Waters,
Mark Hudson, Geo. A. Trafton, John T. Porter, John F.
Kane, and F. E. Mauk; also, Win. Wilson and C. E. Bow-
man, representing the town of Corralitos, and C. R. Whit-
cher, Jr., representing Castroville. Chairman Madden
made the welcoming address.
The President said :
My Friends — I am very glad to see you this evening. I am sorry
that the fatigues of the past few days have left us all in a state not
quite so fresh and blooming as your fields and gardens. We are a
little dusty and a little worn, but you quite rekindle our spirits by
this demonstration. We have ridden with great delight through
this beautiful valley to-day. It seems to me, as we pass each ridge
or backbone and come into a new valley, that we see something
that still more resembles the Garden of Eden. It is a constant
succession of surprises, but most of all I delight to see such con-
vincing evidence of the contentment and happiness of your people.
I am sure that those I see here to day must come from happy and
prosperous homes. I wish you all good -by. [Cheers.]
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 379
MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 30.
THE presidential party arrived at Del Monte depot at 8
o'clock Wednesday evening and were the guests of Manager
Sclionewald, of the famous Hotel Del Monte. The next
morning the distinguished travellers were driven over to
Monterey, the historic old capital of California ; they were
met at the outskirts by the City Trustees and a committee
of prominent citizens, among whom were : C. I. Burks,
Capt. Thomas Bralee, Francis Doud, David Rodrick, F. R.
Day, Edward Ingram, Job Wood, Thomas Doud, J. T.
Stockdale, Jacob R. Leese, Wm. Kay, A. A. Osio, and
H. Whitcomb. The reception was held on the grounds
fronting the old Capitol — now used as a school-house.
After the reception the visitors were taken on an 18-mile
drive through the parks and groves along the Pacific
Ocean. Mayor W. J. Hill, of Salinas, delivered the address
of welcome on behalf of the citizens of Monterey and Sa-
linas, and presented the President with a silver plate en-
graved with a fac-simile of the old Custom House and the
words " The Custom House where the American flag was
first raised in California, July 7, 1846. Monterey, April
30, 1891. Greeting to our President."
In response the President said :
Mr. Mayor and Fellow -citizens — Our whole pathway through the
State of California has been paved with good -will. We have been
made to walk upon flowers. Our hearts have been touched and
refreshed at every point by the voluntary offerings of your hospi-
table people. Our trip has been one continued ovation of friendli-
ness. I have had occasion to say before that no man is entitled to
appropriate to himself these tributes. They witness a peculiar
characteristic of the American people. Unlike many other people
less happy, we give our devotion to a Government, to its Constitu-
tion, to its flag, and not to men. We reverence and obey those
who have been placed by our own suffrages and choice in public
stations, but our allegiance, our affection, is given to our beneficent
institutions, and upon this rock our security is based. We are not
subject to those turbulent uprisings that prevail where the people
380 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
follow leaders rather than institutions ; where they are caught by
the glamour and dash of brilliant men rather than by the steady
law of free institutions.
I rejoice to be for a moment among you this morning. The his-
tory of this city starts a train of reflections in my mind that I can-
not follow out in speech, but the impression of them will remain
with me as long as I live. [Applause. ] California and its coast
were essential to the integrity and completeness of the American
Union. But who can tell what may be the result of the establish-
ment here of free institutions, the setting up by the wisdom and
foresight and courage of the early pioneers in California of a com-
monwealth that was very early received into the American Union?
We see to-day what has been wrought. But who can tell what
another century will disclose, when these valleys have become
thick with a prosperous and thriving and happy people? I thank
you again for your cordial greeting and bid you good-morning.
[Chears.]
SANTA CRUZ, CALIFORNIA, MAY 1.
AT 8 o'clock Friday morning the presidential train halted
at Santa Cruz, the City of the Holy Cross, where another
floral greeting awaited the distinguished guests. They
were met by Mayor G. Bowman at the head of a commit-
tee of prominent citizens, among whom were : Col. Thomas
P. Robb, W. P. Young, Dr. T. W. Drullard, W. Finkeldey,
O. J. Lincoln, W. J. McCollum, A. L. Weeks, P. R. Hinds,
W. H. Galbraith, E. C. Williams, Duncan McPherson,
Wm. T. Jeter, A. A. Taylor, W. D. Storey, F. A. Hihn, Z.
N". Goldsby, Richard Thompson, R. C. Kirby, J. H. Logan,
A. J. Jennings, Judge McCann, J. F. Cunningham, Benj.
Knight, Z. Barnet, E. C. Williams, and J. T. Sullivan.
Grand Marshal J. O. Wanzer, with his aids, U. S. Nichols,
M. S. Patterson, H. Fay, W. D. Haslam, R. H. Pringle,
W. C. Hoffman, and George Chittenden, acted as an escort
of honor to the President during the parade. When the
Pacific Ocean House was reached Mayor Bowman made
a welcoming address. After the reception the party visited
the grove of big trees near the city.
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 381
As the President arose to respond the great audience
cheered enthusiastically. He said :
Mr. Mayor and Fellow -citizens — It seems to me like improvidence
that all this tasteful and magnificent display should be but for a
moment. In all my journeying in California, where every city
has presented some surprise and where each has been characterized
by lavish and generous display, I have not seen anything so sud-
denly created and yet so beautiful. I am sure we have not ridden
through any street more attractive than this. I thank you most
sincerely for this cordial welcome. I am sure you are a loyal, and
I know you are a loving and kindly people. [Cheers. ] We have
been received, strangers as we were, with affection, and every-
where as I look into the faces of this people I feel my heart swell
with pride that I am an American and that California is one of
the American States. [Cheers.]
LOS GATOS, CALIFORNIA, MAY 1.
THE first stop after leaving Santa Cruz was at Los
Gatos, overlooking the Santa Clara Valley, where a large
assemblage welcomed the party. The Committee of Re-
ception comprised the Board of Town Trustees and W.
H. B. Trantham, James H. Lyndon, G. A. Dodge, and C.
F. Wilcox. E. O. C. Ord Post, G. A. R., James G. Arthur,
Commander, was out in full force.
Chairman J. W. Lyndon made the address of welcome
and introduced President Harrison, who said :
My Fellow citizens — If California had lodged a complaint against
the last census I should have been inclined to entertain it and to
order your people to be counted again. [Laughter. ] From what
I have seen in these days of pleasant travel through your State I
am sure the census enumerators have not taken you all. We have
had another surprise in coming over these mountains to find that
not the valleys alone of California, but its hill-tops are capable of
productive cultivation. We have been greatly surprised to see
vineyards and orchards at these altitudes, and to know that your
fields rival in productiveness the famous valleys of your State.
I thank you for your cordial greeting. It overpowers me I feel
that these brief stops are but poor recompense for the trouble and
382 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
care you have taken. I wish we could tariy longer with you. I
wish I could know more of you individually, but I can only thank
you and say that we will carry away most happy impressions of
California, and that in public and in private life it will give me
pleasure always to show my appreciation of your great State.
[Cheers. ]
SAN FRANCISCO, MAY 1.
Chamber of Commerce Reception.
THE President returned to San Francisco from his trip to
Monterey and Santa Cruz at noon Friday, May 1. He was
met across the bay by W. W. Montague, Geo. C. Perkins,
and Oliver Eldridge, constituting a committee of escort
from the Chamber of Commerce. Arrived at the Cham-
ber of Commerce the President was met by the following
Reception Committee, trustees of the Chamber, composed
of : William L. Merry, A. J. Ralston, W. T. Y. Schenck,
Robert Watt, A. R. Briggs, James Carolan, N. W. Spauld-
ing, General Dimond, John Rosenfeld, Charles R. Allen,
J. J. McKinnon, C. B. Stone, and Louis Parrott. On the
floor of the Merchants' Exchange the President was greeted
by a great and enthusiastic assembly, composed of mem-
bers of the following bodies invited to participate in the
reception : Mexican War Veterans, Society of Pioneers,
Territorial Pioneers, Geographical Society, Art Associa-
tion, Geological Society, State Board of Trade, Board of
Trade of the city, Bar Association, Bankers' Association,
Produce Exchange, San Francisco Stock Exchange, Mer-
chants' Exchange, Boards of Brokers, Boards of Marine
Institute, Chamber of Commerce, Manufacturers' Associa-
tion, and California Academy of Sciences. Colonel Taylor,
President of the Chamber of Commerce, delivered an able
address upon the trade of the Pacific coast, and closed by
cordially welcoming President Harrison, Postmaster-Gen-
eral Wanamaker, and Secretary Rusk.
When the President arose to respond he was greeted
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 383
with a storm of applause. His address was punctured
throughout with cheers. He said :
Mr. President and Gentlemen of these Assembled Societies— I have
been subjected during my stay in California in some respects to
the same treatment the policeman accords to the tramp— I have
been kept moving on. You have substituted flowers and kindness
f<jr the policeman's baton. And yet, notwithstanding all this, we
come to you this morning not exhausted or used up, but a little
fatigued. Your cordial greetings are more exhilarating than your
wine, and perhaps safer for the constitution. [Laughter and ap-
plause. ]
I am glad to stand in the presence of this assemblage of busi-
ness men. I have tried to make this a business Administration.
[Applause.] Of course we cannot wholly separate politics from a
national Administration, but I have felt that every public officer
owed his best service to the people, without distinction of party
[cries of "Good ! good !" and applause] ; that in administering offi-
cial trusts we were in a very strict sense, not merely in a figur-
ative sense, your servants. It has been my desire that in every
branch of the public service there should be improvement. I have
stimulated all the Secretaries and have received stimulus from
them in the endeavor, in all the departments of the Government
that touch your business life, to give you as perfect a service as
possible. This we owe to you ; but if I were pursuing party ends
I should feel that I was by such methods establishing my party in
the confidence of the people. [Applause. ]
I feel that we have come to a point where American industries,
American commerce, and American influence are to be revived
and extended. The American sentiment and feeling was never
more controlling than now ; and I do not use that term in the nar-
row sense of native American, but to embrace all loyal citizens,
whether native-born or adopted, who have the love of our flag
in their hearts. [Great cheering. ] I shall speak to-night, prob-
ably, at the banquet of business men, and will not enter into any
lengthy discussion here. Indeed, I am so careful not to trespass
upon any forbidden topic, that I may not in the smallest degree
offend those who have forgotten party politics in extending this
greeting to us, that I do not know how far I should talk upon
these public questions. But since your Chairman has alluded to
them, I can say I am in hearty sympathy with the suggestions he
has made. I believe there are methods by which we shall put the
American flag upon the sea again [Applause.] In speaking the
384 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
other day I used an illustration which will perhaps be apt in this
company of merchants. You recall, all of you, certainly those of
my age, the time when no merchant sent out travelling men. He
expected the buyer to come to his store. Perhaps that was well
enough ; but certain enterprising men sought custom by putting
travelling men with samples on the road. However the conserva-
tive merchant regarded that innovation, he had but one choice — to
put travelling men on the road or go out of business. In tl*s
question of shipping we are in a similar condition. The great
commercial governments of the world have stimulated their ship-
ping interests by direct or indirect subsidies, while we have been
saying : " No, we prefer the old way. " We must advance or — I
will not say go out of business, for we have already gone out.
[Applause.] I thank you most cordially for your greeting, and
bid you good- by. [Applause.]
ADDRESS TO THE VETERANS, MAY 1.
FROM the Chamber of Commerce the President and his
party were escorted to the Mechanics' Pavilion by the
Veteran Guard under Captain Knowlton, preceded and
followed by Lincoln, Garfield, Cass, Meade, Liberty, and
Geo. Sykes posts, G. A. R. Fully 10,000 children and citi-
zens were assembled to witness the May Day festivities
under the auspices of the G. A. R. posts. Escorted by
Grand Marshal Saloman, the President advanced to the
stage and was received by Hon. Henry C. Dibble, who pre-
sented him to the throng of veterans and children.
He spoke as follows :
Comrades of the Grand Army of the Republic— It will not be pos-
sible in so large a hall for me to make myself heard, and yet I can-
not refuse when appealed to to say a word of kindly greeting to
those comrades who have found their homes on the Pacific coast.
I have no doubt that all the loyal States of the Union are repre-
sented in this assembly, and it is pleasant to know that, after the
strife and hardships of those years of battle, you have found among
the flowers and fruits of the earth homes that are full of pleasant-
ness and peace.
It was that these things might continue to be that you went to
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 385
battle ; it was that these homes might be preserved . it was that
the flag and all that it symbolizes might be perpetuated, that you
fought and many of our comrades died. All this land calls you
blessed. The fruits of division and strife that would have been
ours if secession had succeeded would have been full of bitterness.
The end that was attained by your valor under the providence of
God has brought peace and prosperity to all the States. [Applause. ]
It gave me great pleasure in passing through the Southern States
to see how your work had contributed to their prosperity. No man
can look upon any of these States through which we campaigned
and fought without realizing that what seemed to their people a
disaster was, under God, the opening of a great gate of prosperity
and happiness.
All those fires of industry which I saw through the South were
lighted at the funeral pyre of slavery. [Cries of "Good! good!"
and applause.] They were impossible under the conditions that
existed previously in those States. We are now a homogeneous
people. You in California, full of pride and satisfaction with the
greatness of your State, will always set above it the greater glory
and the greater citizenship which our flag symbolizes. [Cheers.]
You went into the war for the defence of the Union ; you have
come out to make your contribution to the industries and progress
of this age of peace As in our States of the Northwest the
winter covering of snow hides and warms the vegetation, and
with the coming of the spring sun melts and sinks into the earth
to refresh the root, so this great army \vas a covering and defence,
and when the war was ended, turned into rivulets of refreshment
to all the pursuits of peace. There was nothing greater in all the
world's story than the assembling of this army except its disband-
ment. It was an army of citizens ; and when the war was over
the soldier was not left at the tavern — he had a fireside toward
which his steps hastened. He ceased to be a soldier and became a
citizen. [Cheers.]
I observe, as I look into your faces, that the youth of the army
must have settled on the Pacific coast. [Laughter and applause. ]
You are younger men here than we are in the habit of meeting at
our Grand Army posts in the East May all prosperity attend you ;
may you be able to show yourselves in civil life, as in the war,
the steadfast, unfaltering, devoted friends of this flag you are
willing to die for. [Great cheering. ]
386 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
PALACE HOTEL BANQUET, MAY 1.
IN the evening President Harrison attended a grand
banquet given in his honor by the prominent citizens at
the Palace Hotel. Of all the entertainments extended to
the distinguished visitors on their journey this banquet was
beyond question the most notable. Representatives of the
business, professional, political, educational, and society
circles of the city were present in numbers. The brill-
iant affair was largely directed by Colonel Andrews, Alfred
Bovier, Geo. R. Sanderson, and Messrs. Le Count, Jack-
son, and Menzies of the Citizens' Committee.
The President was escorted to the banquet hall by Gen-
eral Barnes and introduced to the distinguished assembly
quite early in the evening. After the vociferous cheering
subsided General Harrison rewarded the magnificent as-
semblage with an address that called forth from the press of
the country general commendation, and is only second to
his great speech at Galveston. He said :
Mr. President and Gentlemen — When the Queen of Sheba visited
the court of Solomon and saw its splendors she was compelled to
testify that the half had not been told her. Undoubtedly the emis-
saries of Solomon's court, who had penetrated to her distant terri-
tory, found themselves in a like situation to that which attends
Californians when they travel East — they are afraid to put too
much to test the credulity of their hearers [laughter and applause] ,
and as a gentleman of your State said to me, it has resulted in a
prevailing indisposition among Californians to tell the truth out of
California. [Laughter and applause.] Not at all because Califor-
nians are unfriendly to the truth, but solely out of compassion for
their hearers they address themselves to the capacity of those who
hear them. [Laughter.] And taking warning by the fate of the
man who told a sovereign of the Indies that he had seen water so
solid that it could be walked upon, they do not carry their best
stories away from home. [Laughter. ]
It has been, much as I have heard of California, a brilliant dis-
illusion to me and to those who have journeyed with me. The
half had not been told of the productiveness of your valleys, of the
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 387
blossoming orchards, of the gardens laden with flowers. We have
seen and been entranced. Our pathway has been strewn with
flowers. We have been surprised, when we were in a region of
orchards and roses, to be suddenly pulled up at a station and asked
to address some remarks to a pyramid of pig tin. [Laughter and
applause. ]
Products of the mine, rare and exceptional, have been added to
the products of the field, until now the impression has been made
upon my mind that if any want should be developed in the arts,
possibly if any \vants should be developed in statesmanship, or
any vacancies in office [great laughter], we have here a safe reser-
voir that can be drawn upon ad libitum. [Laughter] . But, my
friends, sweeter than all the incense of flowers, richer than all the
products of mines, has been the gracious, unaffected, hearty kind-
ness with which the people of California have everywhere received
us. Without division, without dissent, a simple yet magnificent
and enthusiastic American welcome. [Great applause.]
It is gratifying that it should be so. We may carry into our
campaigns, to our conventions and congresses, discussions and
divisions, but how grand it is that we are a people who bow rev-
erently to the decision when it is rendered, and who will follow
the flag always, everywhere, with absolute devotion of heart with-
out asking what party may have given the leader in whose hands
it is placed [Enthusiastic cheering.]
I believe that we have come to a new epoch as a Nation. There
are opening portals before us inviting us to enter — opening portals
to trade and influence and prestige such as we have never seen
before. [Great applause. ] We will pursue the paths of peace ; we
are not a warlike Nation ; all our instincts, all our history is in the
lines of peace. Only intolerable aggression, only the peril of our
institutions — of the flag — can thoroughly arouse us, [Great ap-
plause. ] With capability for war on land and on sea unexcelled
by any nation in the world, we are smitten with the love of peace.
[Applause. ] We would promote the peace of this hemisphere by
placing judiciously some large guns about the Golden Gate [great
and enthusiastic cheering] —simply for saluting purposes [laugh-
ter and cheers], and yet they should be of the best modern type.
[Cheers. ]
We should have on the sea some good vessels. We don't need
as great a navy as some other people, but we do need a sufficient
navy of first-class ships, simply to make sure that the peace of the
hemisphere is preserved [cheers] ; simply that we may not leave
the great distant marts and harbors of commerce and our few citi-
388 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
zens who may be domiciled there to feel lonesome for the sight of
the American flag. [Cheers.]
We are making fine progress in the construction of the navy.
The best English constructors have testified to the completeness and
perfection of some of our latest ships. It is a source of great grati-
fication to me that here in San Francisco the energy, enterprise,
and courage of some of your citizens have constructed a plant
capable of building the best .modern ships. [Cries of " Good !
good!" and cheers.]
I saw with delight the magnificent launch of one of these new
vessels. I hope that you may so enlarge your capacities for con-
struction that it will not be necessary to send any naval vessel
around the Horn. We want merchant ships. [Cheers.] I believe
we have come to a time when we should choose whether we will
continue to be non- participants in the commerce of the world or
will now vigorously, with the push and energy which our people
have shown in other lines of enterprise, claim our share of the
world's commerce. [Cheers.]
I will not enter into the discussion of methods of the Postal bill
of the last session of Congress, which marks the beginning. Here
in California, where for so long a time a postal service that did
not pay its own way was maintained by the Government, where
for other years the Government has maintained mail lines into
your valleys, reaching out to every remote community, and paying
out yearly a hundred times the revenue that was derived, it ought
not to be difficult to persuade you that our ocean mail should not
longer be the only service for which we refuse to expend even the
revenues derived from it.
It is my belief that, under the operation of the law to which
I have referred, we shall be able to stimulate ship -building, to
secure some new lines of American steamships, and to increase the
ports of call of all those now established. [Enthusiastic cheering. ]
It will be my effort to do what may be done under the powers
lodged in me by the law to open and increase trade with the coun-
tries of Central and South America. I hope it may not be long — I
know it will not be long if we but unitedly pursue this great scheme
— until one can take a sail in the bay of San Francisco and see
some deep-water ships come in bearing our own flag. [Enthusi-
astic and continued cheering. ]
During our excursion the other day I saw three great vessels
come in ; one carried the Hawaiian and two the English flag. I
am a thorough believer in the construction of the Nicaragua Canal.
You have pleased me so much that I would like a shorter water
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 389
communication between my State and yours. [Cheers.] Influ-
ences and operations are now started that will complete, I am sure,
this stately enterprise ; but, my fellow-citizens and Mr. President,
this is the fifth time this day that I have talked to gatherings of
California friends, and we have so much taxed the hospitality of
San Francisco in making our arrangements to make this city the
centre of a whole week's sight-seeing that I do not want to add to
your other burdens the infliction of longer speech. [Cries of "Go
on !"] Right royally have you welcomed us with all that is rich
and prodigal in provision and display. With all graciousness and
friendliness I leave my heart with you when I go. [Great and
prolonged cheering. ]
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA, MAY 2.
EARLY Saturday morning, May 2, the President left
San Francisco, accompanied by Mrs. Harrison and Mrs.
Dimmick, Secretary Rusk, Marshal Ransdell, and Major
Sanger, to visit the capital city, Sacramento. They were
met at Davisville by a special committee consisting of:
Hon. Newton Booth, Hon. A. P. Catlin, Hon. W. C. Van
Fleet, Col. J. B. Wright, Hon. J. O. Coleman, Maj. Wm.
McLaughlin, Col. C. H. Hubbard, Hon. N. Curtis, Hon.
Theo. Reichert, R. B. Harmon, and Hon. W. C. Hendricks.
A presidential salute at 8 o'clock announced the arrival
of the Chief Magistrate, who was welcomed by Hon. W.
D. Comstock, Mayor of the city, at the head of the follow-
ing distinguished Committee of Reception : Hon. J. W.
Armstrong, Prof. E. C. Atkinson, Hon. Frederick Cox,
Edwin F. Smith, H. M. Larue, P. S. Lawson, W. A. An-
derson, Wells Drury, C. K. McClatchy, Maj. H. Wein-
stock, A. A. Van Voorhies, A. S. Hopkins, T. W. Hum-
phrey, Hon. F. R. Dray, Wm. Beckman, R. D. Stephens,
W. P. Coleman, Dr. Wm. H. Baldwin, Allen Towle, Dr. G.
L. Simmons, C. T. Wheeler, J. C. Pierson, W. H. H. Hart,
A. Abbott, Chas. McCreary, Rev. Stephenson, T. M. Lind-
ley, E. W. Roberts, Grove L. Johnson, Frank Miller,
Dr. W. R. Cluness, H. W. Byington, Chris. Green, Clinton
390 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
L. White, Alonzo R. Conklin, Wm. Geary, Gen. A. L.
Hart, Dr. S. Bishop, L. Tozer, D. H. McDonald, L. W.
Grothan, W. H. Ambrose, J. S. McMahon, Geo. W. Ches-
ley, W. R. Strong, Rev. A. C. Herrick, T. M. Lindley, H.
J." Small, Felix Tracy, C. A. Luhrs, Philip Scheld, Wm.
Land, H. G. May, C. A. Jenkins, Geo. C. McMulle, Jabez
Turner, M. A. Baxter, O. W. Erlewine, Albert Hart, L.
Elkus, B. B. Brown, T. C. Adams, B. U. Steinman, G. W.
Safford, W. D. Perkins, Ed. F. Taylor, A. J. Johnston, E.
Greer, L. Mebus, W. E. Gerber, S. E. Carrington, E. C.
Hart, Dr. M. Gardner, Dr. T. W. Huntington, Chris.
Weisel, Joseph E. Werry, W. F. Knox, E. W. Halo, Dr.
G. M. Dixon, W. O. Bowers, Geo. W. Hancock, E. G.
Blessing, A. J. Rhoads, R. S. Carey, E. B. Willis, Jud
C. Brusie, T. L. Enright, V. S. McClatchy, Wm. J.
Davis, Dr. J. R. Laine, Geo. M. Mott, Harrison Bennett,
R. M. darken, Jerry Paine, J. W. Wilson, John Weil,
Gen. J. G. Martine, H. B. Neilson, Chas. M. Campbell,
M. S. Hammer, J. M. Avery, Dr. H. L. Nichols, W. W.
Cuthbert, James I. Felter, R. H. Singleton, E. M. Luckett,
L. L. Lewis, C. S. Houghton, C. A. Yoerk, T. H. Ber-
key, P. Herzog, M. J. Dillman, Robert T. Devlin, A. Pop-
pert, J. L. Huntoon, Capt. Wm. Siddons, Maj. W. A.
Gett, C. J. Ellia, F. W. Fratt, Judge H. O. Beatty, W.
A. Curtis, H. A. Guthrie, Thomas Scott, Beiij. Wilson,
Chas.Wieger, H. Fisher, C. H. Gilman, W. L.Duden, S. S.
Holl, J. Frank Clark, H. G. Smith, L. Williams, John
Gruhler, F. A. Jones, R. J. Van Voorhies, James Wood-
burn, Samuel Gerson, M. A. Burke, C. C. Bonte, Lee Stan-
ley, Perrin Stanton, A. Mazzini, John F. Slater, J. E.
Burke, Capt. J. H. Roberts, Thos. Geddes, S. L. Richards,
M. M. Drew, Gen. Geo. B. Cosbey, J. F. Linthicum, J.
N. Larkin, Richard Burr, and Samuel Lavenson.
The march from the depot to the Capitol grounds was
one continuous ovation. The veterans of Warren, Sum-
ner, and Fair Oaks posts, G. A. R., acted as an escort of
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 391
honor. The militia was commanded by Gen. T. W. Shee-
han. More than 30,000 people witnessed or participated
in the demonstration. As the President passed Pioneer
Hall he halted the column to receive the greetings of the
venerable members of the Sacramento Society. Governor
Markham delivered an eloquent address, reciting the dis-
covery of gold in California, reviewing the President's
tour through the State, and bidding him " good-by and
God-speed." Ex-Governor Booth and Secretary Rusk also
made short speeches. Postmaster- General Wanamaker
was detained at San Francisco, inspecting sites for a new
post-office. His absence was a disappointment to the
postal employees, who sent him a silver tablet, the size of
a money-order, engraved with their compliments, as a
memento.
The President's address was as follows :
Governor Markham and Fellow -citizens— Our eyes have rested
upon no more beautiful or impressive sight since we entered Cali-
fornia. This fresh, delightful morning, this vast assemblage of
contented and happy people, this building, dedicated to the uses
of civil government — all things about us tend to inspire our hearts
with pride and with gratitude.
Gratitude to that overruling Providence that turned hither after
the discovery of this continent the steps of those who had the
capacity to organize a free representative government.
Gratitude to that Providence that has increased the feeble colo-
nies on an inhospitable coast to these millions of prosperous people,
who have found another sea and populated its sunny shores with a
happy and growing people. [Applause. ]
Gratitude to that Providence that led us through civil strife to a
glory and a perfection of unity as a people that was otherwise
impossible.
Gratitude that we have to-day a Union of free States without a
slave to stand as a reproach to that immortal declaration upon
which our Government rests. [Cheers. J
Pride that our people have achieved so much ; that, triumphing
over all the hardships of those early pioneers, who struggled in the
face of discouragement and difficulties more appalling than those
that met Columbus when he turned the prows of his little vessels
392 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
toward an unknown shore ; that, triumphing over perils of starva-
tion, perils of savages, perils of sickness, here on the sunny slope
of the Pacific they have established civil institutions and set up
the banner of the imperishable Union. [Cheers.]
Every Californian who has followed in their footsteps, every man
and woman who is to-day enjoying the harvest of their endeavors,
should always lift his hat to the pioneer of '49. [Cheers.]
We stand here at the political centre of a great State, in this build-
ing where your lawmakers assemble, chosen by your suffrages to
execute your Mall in framing those rules of conduct which shall
control the life of the citizen. May you always find here patriotic,
consecrated men to do your work. May they always assemble here
with a high sense of duty to those brave, intelligent, and honorable
people. May they catch the great lesson of our Government, that
our people need only such regulation as shall restrain the ill-dis-
posed and shall give the largest liberty to individual enterprise
and effort. [Cheers.]
No man is gifted with speech to describe the beauty and the
impressiveness of this great occasion. I am awed in this presence.
I bow reverently to this great assembly of free, intelligent, enter-
prising American sovereigns. [Cheers. ]
I am glad to have this hasty glimpse of this early centre of
immigration. I am glad to stand at the place where that momen-
tous event, the discovery of gold, transpired, and yet, after you
have washed your sand of gold, after the eager rush for sudden
wealth, after all this you have come into a heritage in the posses-
sion of these fields, in those enduring and inexhaustible treasures
of your soil, which will perpetually sustain a great population.
In parting, sir [to the Governor] , to you as the representative of
this people I give the most hearty thanks of all who journey with
me and my own for the early, continuous, kindly, yea, even affec-
tionate attention which has followed us in all our footsteps through
California. [Great cheering. ]
BENICIA, CALIFORNIA, MAY 2.
ON leaving Sacramento the President made a brief stop
at Benicia, where a large crowd greeted him, including the
school children, who bombarded him with flowers. The
welcoming committee was D. M. Hart, President of the
Board of Trustees; A. Dalton, Jr., S. C. Gray, and W.H.
Foreman.
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 393
In response to calls for a speech the President said :
My Friends — I thank you most sincerely for this pleasant tribute
which I have received from these children. It is a curious thing,
perhaps, that among the earliest towns that became familiar to me
in my younger days was Benicia. In 1857, when the United States
sent an armed expedition to Utah, and thence across the continent,
I happened to have an elder and much-beloved brother who was a
lieutenant in that campaign. He was stationed at Benicia Bar-
racks, and his letters from this place have fixed it in my memory,
and recalls to me, as I stand here this morning, very tender mem-
ories of one who has long since gone to his rest. I thank you again
for this demonstration.
BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA, MAY 2.
State University.
THE President arrived at West Berkeley station at 1
o'clock and was met by the Berkeley Reception Committee,
consisting of C. R. Lord, J. L. Scotchler, R, Rickard, E. F.
Neihauser, Samuel Heywood, C. Gaines, J. S. Eastman,
John Squires, F. B. Cone, Chris. Johnson, John Finn,
George Schmidt, L. Gottshall, A. F. Fonzo, H. W. Taylor,
and C. E. Wulferdingen. A procession was formed, and
amid thousands of enthusiastic onlookers the party was
driven to the State University. At the main entrance the
President found the Faculty, the University Battalion,
and about 1, 000 other people awaiting his coming. Acting
President Kellogg briefly welcomed the distinguished
guest.
The President, standing with uncovered head in the
carriage, spoke as follows :
It gives me great pleasure even to inspect these grounds and the
exterior of these buildings devoted to education. Our educational
institutions, beginning with the primary common schools and cul-
minating in the great universities of the land, are the instrumen-
talities by which the future citizens of this country are to be trained
in the principles of morality and in the intellectual culture which
394 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
will fit them to maintain, develop, and perpetuate what their
fathers have begun.
I am glad to receive your welcome, and only regret that it is
impossible for me to make a closer observation of your work. I
unite with you in mourning the loss which has come to you in the
death of Professor Le Conte. I wish for the institution and for
those who are called here to train the young the guidance and
blessing of God in all their endeavors.
Institute of the Dumb and Blind.
Leaving the University the President was rapidly driven
through a beautiful residence district and entered the
grounds of the California Institute of the Deaf, Dumb and
Blind. Before the great edifice stood the teachers : G.
B. Goodall, T. D'Estrella, T. Grady, F. O'Donnell,
Henry Frank, Douglas Kieth, C. T. Wilkinson, N. F.
Whipple, Mary Dutch, Laura Nourse, Elizabeth Moffitt,
Rose Sedgwick, Otto Fleissner, and Charles S. Perry. As-
sembled on the green were more than 200 afflicted little
ones. The blind welcomed the President with their sym-
pathetic voices, the dumb looked upon him and smiled,
while the deaf waved their little hands with joy. Super-
intendent Wilkinson in an address warmly thanked the
party for their visit.
The President, responding, said:
It gives me great pleasure to stop for a moment at one of these
institutions so characteristic of our Christian civilization. In the
barbarous ages of the world the afflicted were regarded by supersti •
tion unhelpful, or treated with cruel neglect ; but in this better
day the States are everywhere making magnificent provision for
the comfort and education of the blind and deaf and dumb.
Where one avenue to the mind has been closed science is opening
another. The eye does the work of the ear, the finger the work of
the tongue for the dumb, and touch becomes sight to the blind. I
am sure that gladness has come to all these young hearts through
the benevolent, careful, and affectionate instruction they are receiv-
ing here. I thank you, and wish all of you the utmost happi-
ness through life.
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 395
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA, MAY 2.
LEAVING the Asylum for the Blind the presidential party
was driven rapidly to Oakland, passing through the sub-
urban town of Temescal, where a large crowd, including
several hundred school children, greeted the distinguished
visitors. The President was accompanied by Mayor Mel-
vin Chapman and the following members of the Oakland
Reception Committee: Ex-Mayor John R. Glascock,
Hon. Geo. E. Whitney, Senator W. E. Dargie, J. G. Mc-
Call, A. C. Donnell, T. C. Coogan, John P. Irish, Hon. E.
S. benison, C. D. Pierce, J. W. McClymonds, W. D.
English, H. M. Sanborn, M. J. Keller, J. F. Evans, A.
W. Bishop, W. W. Foote, Robert McKillican, Charles
G. Yale, G. W. McNear, W. R. Thomas, C. B. Evans,
and Maj. F. R. O'Brien.
As the presidential carriage turned into Jackson Street
at half -past 1 o'clock nearly 10,000 school children wel-
comed the Chief Magistrate with a fusillade of bouquets.
The crowd was so great the President was unable to reach
the reviewing stand, where Mr. Wanamaker awaited him.
Making the best of the situation, Mayor Chapman arose
in the carriage and formally welcomed the President on
behalf of the citizens.
President Harrison, speaking from the same carriage,
responded as follows :
Mr. Mayor and Fellow-citizens— I am glad to meet you all, and I
assure you I appreciate this magnificent demonstration. I must
congratulate you upon your fine institutions, and particularly your
streets, which, I believe, are the best in the country. I thank you
for this reception most heartily. I regret that your enthusiasm
and the vast size of this assembly has somewhat disconcerted the
programme marked out, but I can speak as well from here as from
the stand, which seems to be inaccessible. I return my sincere
thanks for your welcome and express the interest and gratification
I have felt this morning in riding through some of the streets of
your beautiful city. I thank you most sincerely for your friendli-
ness and bid you good -by. [Great cheering.]
396 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, MAY 2.
Union League Reception.
IMMEDIATELY on returning from his arduous trip to Sac-
ramento and Oakland the President attended a reception
in his honor tendered by members of the Union League at
their club-house. The affair was one of the most notable
of any in which the presidential guests participated dur-
ing their visit to the golden West, and was conducted
under the direction of the following committee: A. E.
Castle, Joseph S. Spear, Jr., F. S. Chadbourne, W..H.
Chamberlain, T. H. Minor, J. H. Hegler, Frank J.French,
J. T. Giesting, William Macdonald, J. S. Mumaugh, R. D.
Laidlaw, S. K. Thornton, W. D. Saiiborn, Joseph Simon-
son, J. M. Litchfield, and L. H. Clement.
The President entered upon the arm of Wendell Easton,
President of the Union League Club, followed by the first
lady of the land, escorted by Governor Markham. The
Reception Committee comprised: Senator Stanford, Gen-
eral Dimond, M. H. de Young, Judge Estee, I. C. Stump,
W. C. Van Fleet, C. J. Bandmann, W. E. Dargie, N. P.
Chipman, Lewis Gerstle, F. A. Vail, Col. W. R. Shatter,
Mrs. Leland Stanford, Mrs. R. D. Laidlaw, Mrs. W. H.
Chamberlain, Mrs. Joseph S. Spear, Jr., Mrs. W. W. Mor-
row, Mrs, F. L. Castle, Mrs. M. H. de Young, Mrs. 1ST. P.
Chipman, Mrs. C. J. Bandmann, Miss Emma Spreckels,
Miss Thornton, Mrs. Wendell Easton, Mrs. S. W. Backus,
Mrs. G. H. Sanderson, Mrs. W. E. Dargie, Miss Stump,
Miss Reed, and others prominent in society.
After the long and brilliant column had passed before
the presidential line Samuel M. Shortridge stepped before
the President and in an eloquent address in behalf of the
Union League Club presented him with a fac-simile, in
gold, of the invitation issued to the reception.
General Harrison, in accepting the beautiful souvenir,
said:
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 397
California is full of ambuscades, not of a hostile sort, but with
all embarrassments that attend surprise. In a hasty drive this
afternoon, when I thought I was to visit Oakland, I was suddenly
drawn up in front of a college und asked to make an address, and
in a moment afterward before an asylum for the deaf, dumb, and
blind, the character of which I did not know until the carriage
stopped in front of it. All this taxes the ingenuity as your kind-
ness moves the heart of one who is making a hurried journey
through California. I do not need such souvenirs as this to keep
fresh in my heart this visit to your State. It will be pleasant,
however, to show to others who have not participated in this
enjoyment the record of a trip that has been very eventful and one
of perpetual sunshine and happiness. I do not think I could have
endured the labor and toil of travel- unless I had been borne up by
the inspiriting and hearty good-will of your people. I do not know
what collapse is in store for me when it is withdrawn. I fear I
shall need a vigorous tonic to keep up to the high level of enjoy-
ment and inspiration which your kind treatment has given me.
I thank you for this pleasant social enjoyment and this souvenir
of it. [Applause.]
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, MAY 3.
Farewell.
SUNDAY evening the President and his party, after
passing a restful day at the Palace Hotel, quietly took their
leave of San Francisco and repaired to their palatial train.
Mayor Sanderson and his secretary, Mr. Steppacher, Col.
Charles F. Crocker and Colonel Andrews, of the Kecep-
tion Committee, escorted the party to their train. The
President personally thanked these gentlemen for their
kind and unremitting attentions during their visit.
Shortly before the train resumed its long journey, at a
quarter past midnight, the President gave out the follow-
ing card of thanks to the people of California :
I desire, for myself and for the ladies of our party, to give an
expression of our thanks for many individual acts of courtesy,
which, but for the pressure upon our time, would have been
specially acknowledged. Friends who have been so kind will not,
I am sure, impute to us any lack of appreciation or intended
398 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
neglect. The very excess of their kindness has made any adequate,
and much more, any particular, return impossible. You will all
believe that there has been no purposed neglect of any locality or
individual. We leave you with all good wishes for the State of
California and all her people.
BENJ. HARRISON.
RED BLUFF, CALIFORNIA, MAY 4.
MONDAY morning, May 4, found the presidential train
rolling through Northern California. A short stop was
made at Tehama, where the President shook hands with
the crowd in the rain. Red Bluff, the county seat of Te-
hama County, was reached at 8 :30 o'clock, and several thou-
sand people greeted the President, among them D. D. Dod-
son and Capt. J. T. Matlock, the latter an old army friend
who served in General Harrison's regiment.
On being presented to the assemblage by his former com-
rade the President spoke as follows :
My Friends — It is very pleasant to meet here an old comrade of
the Seventieth Indiana Volunteers. Your fellow citizen, Captain
Matlock, who has spoken for you, commanded one of the companies
of my regiment, and is, therefore, a very old and very dear friend.
Once before in California I had a like surprise. The other day a
glee club began to sing a song that was familiar to me, and I said
to those standing about me . " Why, that song was written by a
lieutenant in my old regiment, and I have not heard it since the
war. " Presently the leader of the glee club turned his face toward
me and I found he was the identical lieutenant and the composer
of the song, singing it for my benefit. All along I have met old
Indiana acquaintances, and I am glad to see them, whether they
were of my old command or from other regiments of the great war.
They all seem to be prosperous and happy. Captain Matlock was
about the same size during the war that he is now. I very well
remember, according to his own account, that at Resaca he under-
took to make a breastwork of so tie "down timber," but he found,
after looking about, that it was insufficient cover, and took a
standing tree. [Laughter. ]
Seriously, my friends, you have a most beautiful State, capable
of promoting the comfort of your citizens in a very high degree,
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 399
and although already occupying a high place in the galaxy of
States, it will, I am sure, take a much higher one. It is pleasant
to see how the American spirit prevails among all your people, the
love for the flag and the Constitution, those settled and permanent
things that live whether men go or come. They came to us from
our fathers and will pass down to our children. You are blessed
with a genial climate and a most productive soil. I see you have
in this northern part of California wliat I have seen elsewhere — a
well-ordered community, with churches and school-houses, which
indicates that you are not giving all your thoughts to material
things, but thinking of those things that qualify the soul for the
hereafter. We have been treated to another surprise this morning
in the first shower we have seen in California. I congratulate you
that it rains here. May all blessings fall upon you, like the gentle
rain. [Cheers. ]
REDDING, CALIFORNIA, MAY 4.
AT Redding, Shasta County, the distinguished travellers
were welcomed by several hundred school children, mar-
shalled by William Jackson. Mayor Brigman and the
members of the City Council, with W. P. England, L. H.
Alexander, B. F. Roberts, Mrs. E. A. Reid, and other prom-
inent residents, participated in the reception. Judge C.
C. Bush, through whose exertions the visit was secured,
delivered an address of welcome and introduced the Presi-
dent, who spoke as follows :
My Fellow -citizens — It is yery pleasant, as we near the northern
line of California, after having traversed the valleys of the south,
and are soon to leave the State in which we have had so much
pleasurable intercourse with its people, to see here, as I have seen
elsewhere, multitudes of contented, prosperous, and happy people.
I am assured you are here a homogeneous people, all Americans,
all by birth or by free choice lovers of one flag and one Constitution.
It seems to me as I look into the faces of these California audiences
that life must be easier here than it is in the old States. I see
absolutely no evidences of want. Every one seems to be well
nourished. Your appearance gives evidence that the family board
is well supplied, and from the gladness on your faces it is evident
that in your social relations everything is quiet, orderly, and
400 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
hopeful. I thank you for your friendly demonstrations. I wish
it were possible for me to do more in exchange for all your great
kindness than simply to say thank you ; but I do profoundly thank
you, and shall carry away from your State the very happiest
impressions and very pleasant memories. [Cheers.]
SISSON, CALIFORNIA, MAY 4.
A BRIEF stop was made at Dunsmuir, where the Presi-
dent shook hands with and thanked the people for their
greeting, remarking that he was glad to find that even on
the hilltops of California they found something profitable
to do.
Sisson, at the foot of Mount Shasta, was reached at 3
o'clock ; it was the last stopping-point in California, and
the entire population turned out in honor of the visitors.
The Committee of Reception was Asa Persons, Hugh B.
Andrews, Oliver E. Moors, T. J. Sullivan, Frank B. Moors,
and the veterans of Mount Shasta Post, G. A. R.
President Harrison, addressing the assemblage, said :
My Friends — I have been talking now over a trip of 6, 000 miles
and feel pretty well talked out ; but I can always say, as I say to
you now, that it is ever a very great pleasure to me to see these
kindly faces turned toward me. We have received in South Cali-
fornia, in their orange groves, a very hearty welcome, and it is
very pleasant to come now to this fine scenery among these snow-
capped mountains. I have no doubt that you find here in this
high altitude an inspiration for all good things. I thank you
again for your cordial greeting.
ASHLAND, OREGON, MAY 4.
THE first stop in Oregon was at Ashland, at 8 P.M., in
a drizzling rain. An escort committee from the Oregon
Legislature and the Portland Board of Trade, headed by
Hon. Joseph Simon, President of the Senate, met the Chief
Executive at this point. The local Reception Committee
comprised Mayor G. M. Grainger, Hon. J. M. McCall, D.
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 401
R. Mills, Dr. J. Hall, and Col. J. T. Bowditch, Judge
Advocate General O. N. G.
Responding to the greeting of the Legislative Commit-
tee the President said :
Mr. Simon and Gentlemen of the Committee — I esteem it an honor
that the Legislature of the State of Oregon has taken this notice of
my visit, and I receive with pleasure this welcome you have
extended to me. I am very glad to greet you, and it will give me
pleasure to see you further before leaving the State.
The President then appeared on the platform, and was
presented to the citizens by the Mayor, and spoke briefly,
saying :
My Friends — This cordial welcome, under the infelicitous cir-
cumstances, is very gratifying to us as we enter the great State of
Oregon. In the State of California we had sunshine, and it was
perhaps to be expected that the favorable weather conditions should
draw about our platform a large concourse of people, but you have
evidenced your interest in the Government and the flag and your
friendly interest in us by turning out on this inclement night to
bid us welcome to your State. I thank you most sincerely, and
wish for you and yours all good, and for your State a continued
career of development and prosperity.
MEDFORD, OREGON, MAY 4.
THE President's visit to Medford at 10 P.M. was ac-
knowledged by a general illumination. The veterans of
Chester A.Arthur Post, G. A. R., J. R. Erford, Com-
mander, and J. H. Faris, Adjutant, were out en masse.
Mayor G. W. Howard made a brief address and intro-
duced the President, who said :
Comrades and Fellow -citizens — It gives me great pleasure to see
you to-night, especially these old comrades, to whom I am glad to
give a comrade's greeting. I would have you think of me as a
comrade. I recall those army scenes which are fresh in your minds
as well as mine, the scenes of privation, suffering, and battle, and
I am glad to see that the old flag you took to the field and brought
26
402 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
home in honor is still held in honor' among you. It is a beautiful
emblem of a great Government. We ought to teach our children
to love it and to regard it as a sacred thing, a thing for which
men have died and for which men will die. It symbolizes the
government of the States under one Constitution, for while you are
all Oregonians as I am an Indianian, and each has his pride in
State institutions and all that properly pertains to our State Gov-
ernment, we have a larger and greater pride in the fact that we
are citizens of a Nation, of a Union of States, having a common
Constitution. [Cheers. ]
It is this flag that represents us on the sea and in foreign coun-
tries . it is under this flag that our navies sail and our armies
inarch. I thank you for this cordial greeting. I hope you have
found in this State comfortable homes, and that in the years that
remain to you God will follow you with those blessings which
your courage and patriotism and sacrifices have so well merited.
[Cheers.]
ALBANY, OREGON, MAY 5.
THE presidential party arrived at the thriving city of
Albany, in the Willamette Valley, at 8 o'clock on the
morning of the 5th, and were received by 5,000 people.
Mayor J. L. Cowan headed the Committee of Reception,
consisting of J. W. Cusick, Judge L. Flinn, W. C. Twee-
dale, J. R. Whitney, L. E. Blain, M. Sternberg, G. F.
Simpson, Dr. D. M. Jones, A. Hackleman, and Thomas
Monteith. McPherson Post, G. A. R., J. F. WThiting,
Commander, and Company F, O. N. G., Capt. Geo. E.
Chamberlain, together with 200 students from the State
Agricultural College at Corvallis, under Prof. J. D.
Letcher, participated in the reception. Mayor Cowan
delivered the address of welcome.
President Harrison, in response, said :
My Fellow citizens— It gives me great pleasure to see you, and to
have the testimony of your presence here this wet morning to the
interest you take in this little party of strangers who are pausing
only for a moment with you. We do not need any assurance, as
we look over an American audience like this, that upon some
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 403
tilings, at least, we are of one mind. One of these things is that
we have a Union indissoluble ; that we have a flag we all honor,
and that shall suffer no dishonor from any quarter. While I regret
the inclemency of the morning, I have been thinking that after all
there was a sort of instructive moral force in the uncertainty of
the weather, which, our friends in Southern California do not
enjoy. How can a boy or young woman be well trained in self-
denial and resignation who does not know what it is to have a
picnic or picnic dress spoiled by a shower, or some fishing excur-
sion by a storm? I thank you for this welcome. [Cheers.]
SALEM, OREGON, MAY 5.
SALEM, the capital of Oregon, was reached at 9 A.M.
The local militia and several thousand citizens assembled
to greet the President, including Governor Pennoyer,
Mayor P. H. D'Arcy, Charles Morris, E. M. Waite, A.
N. Gilbert, William Brown, and other prominent citizens;
also, the Legislative Keception Committee, headed by
Hon. Joseph Simon, President of the Senate, and Hon.
T. T. Geer, Speaker of the House. En route from the
depot to the State House thousands of people lined the
sidewalks and several hundred school children, bearing
flags, waved a cordial greeting. Arriving at the Assem-
bly Chamber, Mayor D'Arcy presided and welcomed the
President in the name of the city; he was followed by
Governor Pennoyer, who extended " a generous, heartfelt
welcome on behalf of the people of Oregon."
With marked earnestness President Harrison responded
as follows:
Governor Pennoyer, Mr, Mayor and Fellow -citizens — It is very
pleasant to be assured by these kindly words which have been
spoken by the Governor of this State and by the chief officer of
this municipality that we are welcome to the State of Oregon and
to the city of Salem. I find here, as I found elsewhere, that these
cordial words of welcome are repeated with increased emphasis by
the kindly faces of those who assemble to greet us. I am glad that
here as elsewhere we look into the faces of happy, prosperous, con-
404 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
tented, liberty-loving, patriotic American citizens. Our birthright,
the wise anticipation of those who framed our Government, our
national and constitutional organization, which has repeated itself
in all the States of the Union, this wholesome and just division
of power between the three great independent, co-ordinate branches
of the Government — the executive, the legislative, and the judicial
— has already demonstrated that what seems to the nations of
Europe to be a complicated and jangling system produces in fact
the most perfect harmony, and the most complete and satisfactory
organization for social order and for national strength.
We stand here to-day in one of these halls set apart to the law-
making body of your State. Those who assemble here are chosen
by your suffrages. They come here as representatives to enact into
laws those views of public questions which have met the sanction
of the majority of your people, expressed in an orderly and honest
way at the ballot-box. I hope it may be always found to be true
of Oregon that your legislative body is a representative body ; that
coming from the people, its service is consecrated to the people,
and the purpose of its creation is attained by giving to the well-
ordered and well-disposed the largest liberty, by curbing, by
wholesome laws, the ill-disposed and the lawless, and providing
by economical methods for the public needs. The judiciary, that
comes next in our system, to interpret and apply the public stat-
utes, has been in our country a safe refuge for all who are
oppressed. It is greatly to our credit as a Nation that wTith rare
exceptions those who have worn the judicial ermine in the highest
tribunals of the country, and notably in the Supreme Court of the
United States, have continued to retain the confidence of the peo-
ple of the whole country. The duty of the Executive is to admin-
ister the law ; the military powder is lodged with him under
constitutional limitations. He does not frame statutes, though in
most States, and under our national Government, a veto power is
lodged in him with a view to secure reconsideration of any par-
ticular measure.
But a public executive officer has one plain duty : it is to enforce
the law with kindness and forbearance, but with promptness and
inexorable decision. He may not choose what laws he will enforce
any more than the citizen may choose what laws he will obey.
We have here but one king . it is the law, passed by those consti-
tutional methods which are necessary to make it binding upon the
people, and to that king all men must bow. It is my great pleas-
ure to find so generally everywhere a disposition to obey the law.
I have but one message for the North and for the South, for the
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 405
East and the West, as I journey through this land. It is to hold
up the law, and to say everywhere that every man owes allegiance
to it, and that all law-breakers must be left to the deliberate and
safe judgment of an established tribunal. You are justly proud of
your great State. Its capabilities are enormous ; its adaptation to
comfortable life is peculiar and fine. The years will bring you
increased population and increased wealth. I hope they will bring
with it, marching in this stately progress of material things, those
finer things— piety, pure homes, and orderly communities. But
above all this State pride, over all our rejoicings in the advantages
which are about us in our respective States, we look with greater
pride to that great arch of government that unites these States and
makes of them all one great Union. But, my fellow- citizens, the
difficulties that I see interposed between us and the train which is
scheduled to depart very soon warn me to bring these remarks to a
speedy close. I beg again, most profoundly, to thank you for this
evidence of your respect, this evidence of your love for the insti-
tutions of our common country. [Cheers. ]
CHEMAWA, OREGON, MAY 5.
AT Chemawa, the seat of an Indian training-school, the
President reviewed the pupils and, in response to calls for
a speech, addressed them as follows :
My Young Friends — It gives me great pleasure to stop for a
moment to see these evidences of the good work the Government is
doing for you and the good work you are doing for yourselves.
All the purposes of the Government toward you and your people
are benevolent and friendly. It is our wish that you may become
such people as your neighbors are — industrious, kindly, peaceful,
and self-respecting. Everything that I can do to promote this end
will be gladly done. I hope your instructors and all those who
are brought close to you will in every way express and carry out
the benevolent and kindly intentions of the Government.
406 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
OREGON CITY, OREGON, MAY 5.
A CORDIAL greeting was accorded the President at Ore-
gon City by the pioneers and army veterans. The Com-
mittee of Reception was Hon. J. T. Apperson, Hon. H.
E. Cross, Hon. T. W. Sullivan, and T. Rands. From
beneath a triumphal floral arch near the station the Mayor
delivered a welcoming address, closing with three cheers.
The President, in response, said :
Fellow-citizens — This is a very pleasant morning reception. The
heartiness and genuineness of your greeting is unmistakable, and
I beg to assure you that we most heartily appreciate and return
your kindly thoughts. You have here a most important State, one
of those bordering on the Pacific, completing the autonomy of our
great country, and giving us a seaboard on the Pacific as well as
upon the Atlantic which was essential to our completeness and
separateness as a people. The interesting story of the early settle-
ment of Oregon, of the international contest which for some time
threatened international war, is fresh in the minds of these pio-
neers, and I am sure is taught to these children of your public
schools. The work of those who set up the American flag here,
and who secured to us this fertile region, is worthy of mention
and of honorable commemoration by this generation, which is
entering into their labors. Your State has added another to that
succession of kindly greetings which began when we left the na-
tional capital. We have come out of the land of irrigation and
roses into this land where the Lord takes care of the crops ; and
this dependence upon the seasons is not without its instructive and
moral influences. Nature seems to have made a fresh, white toilet
for us as we have come down the banks of this beautiful river. To
the pioneers, to those who have entered in with less labor to the
inheritance left to them, to these children and to these comrades
of the Grand Army, I give my most hearty greeting.
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 407
PORTLAND, OREGON, MAY 5.
TUESDAY, at noon, found the President and his party at
Portland, where they received an enthusiastic greeting.
Ten thousand people were present, notwithstanding the
rainy weather. The President was welcomed at the sta-
tion by Mayor Van B. De Lashmutt and wife, Chief -Jus-
tice R. S. Strahan, Supreme Judges W. P. Lord and
R. S. Bean, Federal Judge M. P. Deady, Hon. Joseph
Simon, President of the Senate; Hon. T. T. Geer, Speaker
of the House; ex-Atty.-Gen. Geo. H. Williams, Hon. T.
F. Osborn, President Chamber of Commerce; Hon. E.
B. McElroy, Gen. O. Summers, Gen. Wm. Kapus, Hon.
M. C. George, Hon. Henry Failing, Hon. C. A. Dolph,
Hon. P. L. Willis, Hon. F. V. Drake, Hon. G. L. Story,
Hon. J. C. Moreland, Hon. J. C. Fuller-ton, Hon. H. B.
Miller, Philip Metschan, and Mrs. Rosa F. Burrell; also
W. F. Matlock, J. H. McClung, and S. B. Eakin, Jr., of
Eugene City.
The parade was a brilliant affair. The veterans of the
several G. A. R. posts acted as the guard of honor. The
great column was directed by Col. T. M. Anderson, U. S.
A., aided by O. F. Paxton, Chief of Staff; C. M. Idle-
man, D. S/Tuthill, Dr. Henry E. Jones, J. G. Wood-
worth, R. W. Mitchell, F. K. Arnold, L. A. Lewis, E.
C. Michenor, C. R. Holcomb, Charles E. Dodd, J. C.
Courtney, J. A. Sladden, John Gwilt, G. A. Harding,
Gen. C. S. Wright, Gen. C. P. Holloway, Col. R. S.
Greenleaf, Col. D. H. Turner, N. S. Pierce, G. E. Caukin,
A. E. Borthwick, Col. H. H. Northup, Col. R. T. Cham-
berlain, G. H. Durham, H. C. Allen, E. A. Weed, M. J.
Morse, Geo. C. Sears, F. R. Neal, Dr. W. H. Saylor, Capt.
J. E. Lombard, C. E, Dubois, H. P. Wilson, and M. G.
Steffen.
Conspicuous in the procession were the following staff
408 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
officers of the Department of the Columbia: Maj. C. A.
Wikoff, Maj. W. H. Nash, Maj. J. C. Muhlenberg, Maj.
J. G. C. Lee, and Captains C. McClure andC. H. Ingalls;
also Hon. R. P. Earhart, Geo. A. Steel, F. P. Mays, E.
T. Hatch, J. T. Stewart, Mayor of East Portland ; D. M.
McLauchlin, Mayor of Albina; A. M. Crawford, of Rose-
burg, and the French, Russian, and Danish vice-consuls.
In the evening five companies of the First Regiment, O.
N. G., commanded by Col. Charles F. Beebe, escorted the
President, Secretary Rusk, and Postmaster-General Wan-
amaker to the Exposition Building, where an audience of
15,000 greeted them. Mayor De Lashmutt delivered an
eloquent address of welcome.
President Harrison was tendered an ovation as he arose
to respond. He said :
Mr. Mayor and Fellow -citizens — No more brilliant or inspiring
scene than this has been presented to our eyes in this wonderful
series of receptions which have been extended to us on our journey.
You have been filled wjth regret to-day that your weeping skies
did not present to us the fair spectacle which you had hoped ; and
yet this very discouragement has but added to the glory of this
magnificent reception. [Cheers. ] To stand in the bright sunshine
of a genial day and to wave a welcome is not so strong a proof
of the affectionate interest of a people as you have given to-day
standing in this down-pouring rain [Cheers. J In the presence
of a multitude like this, in a scene made brilliant by these decora-
tions, I stand inadequate to any suitable expression of the gratitude
that fills my heart. [Cheers. ]
I was quite inclined to stand by the Superintendent of the Census
in the count which he made of the States , but I am afraid if I
had witnessed this scene, pending your application for a recount,
that it would have been granted. [Laughter and great cheering. ]
I am sorry that it could not have been made as the people turned
out to give us this welcome ; I am sure no one would have been
missed. [Laughter and cheers. 1
This State is interesting in its history. The establishment of the
authority of the United States over this region was an important
event in our national history. The possession of the Columbia and
of Puget Sound was essential to the completeness and the roundness
of our empire. We have here in this belt of States, reaching from
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 409
the Gulf of California to the Straits of Fuca, a magnificent posses
sion which we could not have dispensed with at all. [Cheers.]
The remoteness of Oregon from the older settled States, the peril
and privation which attended the steps of the pioneer as he came
hither, delayed the development of this great country. You are
now but beginning to realize the advantage of closer and easier
communications. You are but now beginning to receive from an
impartial and beneficent Government that attention which you
well deserve. [Cheers. ]
That this river of yours should be made safe and deep, so that
waiting commerce may come without obstruction to your wharf,
is to be desired. [Cheers. ] It should receive those appropriations
which are necessary to make the work accomplish the purpose in
view. [Cheers.] I believe that you may anticipate a largely
increased commerce. Looking out as you do toward the regions
across the Pacific, it would be but natural that this important
centre should draw from them and exchange with them a great
and increasing commerce [Cheers.] I am in entire sympathy
•with the suggestion of the Mayor that it is important that this
commerce should be carried in American ships. [Cheers. ] A few
days ago, when I sailed in the harbor of San Francisco, I saw three
great deep water ships come into that port. One carried the flag
of Hawaii and two the English flag. None bore at the masthead
the Stars and Stripes. I believe it is the duty of the national Gov-
ernment to take such steps as will restore the American merchant
marine. [Cheers.] Why shall we not have our share in the great
commerce of the wTorld? I cannot but believe — and such inspiring
presences as this but kindle and confirm my belief — that we are
come to a time when this Nation should look to the future and
step forward bravely and courageously in new lines of enterprise.
[Cheers. ]
The Nicaragua Canal should be completed. [Cheers.] Our har-
bors should have adequate defence. [Cheers.] We should have
upon the sea a navy of first-class ships. [Cheers.] We are here in
the most kindly relations to these South American and Central
American countries We have been content that Europe should do
the commerce of these nations. We have not availed ourselves of
the advantages of neighborhood and of friendly kindred republican
institutions to develop our commerce with those people. We have,
fortunately, as a result of the great conference of American nations,
set on foot measures that I confidently hope will bring to us
speedily our just share of this great commerce. [Cheers. ]
I am glad to know that we are here to-night as American citi-
410 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
zens, lovers of the one flag and the one Constitution. [Enthusiastic
cheering. ] Proud of Oregon ' Yes, you may well be proud of Ore-
gon. But, my countrymen, above all, crowning all, greater than,
all, is our American citizenship. [Great cheering. ] What would
one of these States be "without the other? What is it that gives us
prestige abroad and power at home? It is that we have formed a
government of the people , that we have one flag and speak writh
one voice to all the nations of the earth. [Enthusiastic cheering. ]
I hope that narrow sentiment that regards the authority of the
United States or its officers as alien or strange has once and forever
been extinguished in this land of ours. [Great cheering. ] My
countrymen, I am profoundly grateful for this magnificent demon-
stration. I accept it as a tribute to your institutions and to your
country. No man is worthy of it ; he can only return for it a fresh
consecration of himself to the duties of public office and private
citizenship. [Great cheering. ] Again I assure you that you have
given us to-day what is to my mind, under the conditions, taking
into account the population of your city, the most splendid dem-
onstration we have seen on the whole journey. [Prolonged and
enthusiastic cheering. J
At the conclusion of the President's address the great
assemblage began calling for Postmaster- General Wana-
maker. After a few moments' hesitation the distinguished
Philadelphian came forward and was the recipient of an
ovation. He said •
Fellow-countrymen — I am proud to be present at this magnificent
demonstration. I am especially pleased at the address the Presi
dent has delivered. Instead of having it printed for Congress he
has reserved it for the people of Oregon, and personally brought
you his message. [Cheers.] What you have done to-day has cer-
tainly touched his heart; and no man would be human who did
not feel moved at this wondeiful welcome that you have prepared
for your President. I think you had him in mind all the time,
and wanted to show that your loyalty and affection w^ould wash.
[Laughter and cheers. ]
I am proud to be an American citizen, and to see how the people
rally round the flag and the chief standard-bearer, the President
of the United States. [Cheers. ] From the day he started from
home his pathway has been strewn with garlands, and many timeo
our way has lain through a path knee-deep with flowers. They
have been scattered all the way from Virginia to Oregon ; but
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 411
above all is the hearty, loving, loyal welcome that has been ex-
tended to us at every stop we have made. On the boundary of
your State, at the little town of Salem [laughter], I think, a wel-
come was spoken most beautifully and heartily by your Governor.
[Tremendous cheering.] But you have about 60,000 majority over
Salem. [Cheers. ]
How can any one thank you for it except to go back to Wash-
ington and do the very best in his power for your good and the
good of the whole people? Some of us Eastern people are doing
now what Columbus did 400 years ago — we are discovering Amer-
ica. [Cheers.] If what you have done for us here to-night and
what you have done to-day is a true index to your energy and
determination, what is there you will not grasp and do when you
get at it? [Cheers.] I am sure you will find one opportunity in
aiding in the postal telegraph. We are going to have penny postage
all the country over. [Cheers. ] But before that time comes let us
go out into the new States as the villages and hamlets build up
and let us give them the mail with the freest intercourse and the
fullest facility. I will now make way for the next man, for the
largest Secretary of all is still to come. [Cheers and laughter.]
Secretary Rusk also received a hearty welcome. His
remarks about the Weather Bureau had a peculiar zest be-
cause of the presence of Gen. A. W. Greely, chief signal
officer. He said :
Ladies and Gentlemen — It is with great pleasure that I meet you
here to-night I would not have a heart if I did not say that I
have been touched by this demonstration and the demonstration
on your streets to-day. [Cheers.] I account for this in a dif-
ferent way from those who have preceded me. I saw on your
streets to-day more ladies than I saw in any city which we have
visited since we left Washington. And the beautiful children!
While we have had more flowers in other States, we have not
met more beautiful women and lovely children. I tell you, in
order to raise anything sweetly and beautifully you must have
rain. [Cheers.] Congress has passed a law providing that the
Weather Bureau be turned over to me July 1, and if I can control
the weather and another President comes here I will see that
you have a flood. [Cheers and laughter.] I will endeavor, how-
ever, after July 1 to give you thirteen months' rain every year.
I have been touched to the heart in many ways since I came to
your beautiful city. I have met friends who were my boyhood's
friends away back in Wisconsin, and comrades who served with
412 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
me in battle and in camp. [Cheers.] I would fail to do my duty
if I did not say that I am glad to see you all. God bless them and
may the future deal kindly with you all. [Great cheering.]
CENTRALIA, WASHINGTON, MAY 6.
EARLY on the morning of the 6th the presidential train
crossed the State line and entered the new State of Wash-
ington, stopping a moment at Chehalis, and reaching Cen-
tralia at 7 o'clock. Here the President was received with
a national salute, and notwithstanding the rain several
thousand people were present. Mayor D. B. Rees and the
following prominent residents welcomed the Chief Magis-
trate: J. H. Corwin, H. J. Miller, W. H. Bachtall, H. L.
Meade, Geo. Miller, E. R. Butherworth, Charles Johnson,
Henry Shield, N. B. Kelsey, A. J. Wright, and Geo. H.
Ellsbury.
The President said :
My Fellow citizens — It is very kind of you to turn out so early in
the morning. I can count among my pleasantest experiences in
the Northwest this very early rising. I am a good deal of a Daniel
Webster as to early risings. [Laughter.] It gives me great pleas
ure to notice the evidence of increased population as contrasted
with what I saw six years ago as I passed through this country. I
was so unfortunate then as to find it enveloped in smoke, so that
the mountain tops were invisible. I am afraid we are to have this
experience repeated on this visit on account of the fog. I suppose
this is because the beauties of your country are so great that they
have to be shaded to the eyes of a stranger. Seriously, however,
you have a great commonwealth. I do not doubt that your future
is to be one of great development and great increase in population,
and that you are to found here a very contented, prosperous, and
happy people. Fortunately you have a capacity for great agricult-
ural development after you have cleared away the forests ; and that,
after all, is the permanent foundation of every American city. It
is well enough to have trees on the land and mines in the earth ;
but trees will be cut down and mines be dug out, and the only
thing that lasts is good soil in the hands of good husbandmen. I
thank you most sincerely. [Cheers. ]
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 413
TACOMA, WASHINGTON, MAY 6.
TEN thousand cheers greeted the arrival of the Presi-
dent at Tacoma Wednesday morning. Gov. Elisha P.
Ferry, Mayor Geo. B. Kandle, and Judge Wm. H. Calkins,
at the head of the following Committee of Reception, met
the party : Gen. John W. Sprague, Samuel Collyer, Col-
onel Garretson, Judge Allyn, Hon. M. Hill, Mrs. Frank
Allyn, W. D. Tyler, Mrs. Derrickson, Thomas Carroll,
Dr. Munsou, Judge John Beverly, Judge Applegate, H. C.
Wallace, Senator John B. Allen and wife, Mrs. Galusha
Parsons, Charles Hale, George Reed, Charles Catlin, S.
C. Slaughter, Thomas Sloane, L. E. Post, Nelson Bennett,
F. F. Jacobs, I. W. Anderson, A. C. Mason, C. W. Griggs,
G. W. Holmes, E. M. Hunt, John D. Hills, L. R. Man-
ning, Hon. Thomas Carroll, Col. Charles Reichenbach,
Atty.-Gen. Jones, State Treasurer Lindsley, J. D. Hogue,
C. B. Zabriskie, and Fred T. Taylor.
The decorations were upon an elaborate scale. Chief
among the attractions of this order were five mammoth
arches spanning Pacific Avenue, constructed from products
typifying the principal industries of the State, to wit : the
timber arch, coal arch, iron arch, grain arch, and shingle
arch. Notwithstanding the rain the parade, under Chief
Marshal C. W. Griggs, was a brilliant success.
A noteworthy incident was the special reception tendered
to Mrs. Harrison and the other ladies of the presidential
party by the ladies of Tacoma at the Opera House. Fully
5,000 paid their respects. Mrs. S. C. Slaughter, on behalf
of the ladies of Tacoma, presented to Mrs. Harrison a
beautiful painting of Mt. Tacoma by the artist Rollins.
Accompanying the picture was an illustrated copy of Mrs.
Bernice E. Wewell's poem on "Mt. Tacoma," also a gold
engraved spoon, the latter for the President's grandson.
In acknowledging the receipt of these souvenirs Mrs. Har-
414 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
rison made perhaps her first public speech on the trip.
She said :
Ladies — I cannot thank you enough for all your kindness. I
shall take your gifts home and treasure them all my life as me-
mentos of a most enjoyable visit to your beautiful city. [Applause. ]
After the review of the procession Governor Ferry, in
the presence of many thousands, formally welcomed Presi-
dent Harrison to the State of Washington. The distin-
guished veteran General Sprague made the address on
behalf of the citizens of Tacoma.
The President responded as follows :
My Fellow -citizens — I feel that it would be cruel to prolong this
exposure which you are enduring in the inclement weather of the
day. I visited your city and the region of Puget Sound six years
ago. I found this country then enveloped in smoke, so that these
grand mountain-tops, of which mention has been made in the
address of welcome, were hidden from our view. I come again
and the smoke is replaced by fog, and.we are still, I suppose, to
take the existence of these snow- clad peaks on faith [Laughter
and applause.] I don't know but there is a benevolent provision
for your comfort in the fact that this magnificent scenery, this
unmatched body of water are frequently hidden from, the eye of
the traveller. If every one who journeys hither could see it all
everybody would want to live here, and there wouldn't be room.
[Laughter and cheers.] I congratulate you, citizens of Tacoma,
upon the magnificent, almost magical, transformation which has
been wrought here in these six years since I first saw your city.
It has been amazing ; it is a tribute to the energy and the enter-
prise and courage of your people that will endure and increase and
attract in a yet higher degree the attention of the whole country.
A harbor like this, so safe and commodious and deep, upon
Puget Sound, should be made to bear a commerce that is but yet
in its infancy. I would like to see the prows of some of these
great steamship lines entering your ports and carrying the Ameri-
can flag at the masthead. [Cheers. ] I believe we have come to
the time in our development as a people when we must step for-
ward with bold progress, or we will lose the advantage we have
already attained. We have within ourselves the resources, and a
market of which the world is envious. We have been content, in
the years gone by, to allow other nations to do the carrying trade
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 415
of the world. We have been content to see the markets of these
American republics lying south of us mastered and controlled by
European nations. I think the period of discontent with these
things has now come to our people, and I believe the time is au-
spicious for the enlargement of our commerce with these friendly
republics lying to the south of us. I believe the time is propitious
for re establishing upon the sea the American merchant marine,
that shall do its share of the carrying trade of the world.
[Applause. ]
My friends, I desire to again express to you my regret that to
give us this magnificent welcome, under circumstances so inau-
spicious, you have been exposed to so much wet. I especially
regretted, as I passed those long lines of dear school children, that
they should have been exposed in order to do us honor. I will not
detain you longer. For your city, for this magnificent young State
that we have received into the .great sisterhood of the Union, of
which you are a glorious part, we give our aspirations, our prayers,
and our best endeavors. [Applause. ]
On Steamer "City of Seattle," Puget Sound
At 11 : 30 A.M. the President and his party left Tacoma,
embarking on the steamer City of Seattle for the Queen
City of the Northwest. There was a great outpouring at
Tacoma to witness the departure, and the presidential con-
voy was escorted down the sound by all the steamers in
the bay. As the President came aboard he was met by
Mayor and Mrs. Harry White at the head of the follow:
ing committee of prominent citizens of Seattle: Jacob
Furth, John H. McGraw, A. W. Bash, Postmaster Griffith
Davies, A. M. Brookes, A. A. Denny, L. S. J. Hunt, W.
E. Bailey, F. J. Grant, President and Mrs. G. W. Hall,
President and Mrs. R. W. Jones, Maj. J. R. Hayden, Mr.
and Mrs. E. Brainerd, Mrs. George H. Heilbron, Mrs. J.
C. Haines, Mrs. R. C. Washburn, Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Hol-
man, Mrs. E. L. Terry, Mrs. J. F. McNaught, Mrs. A. B.
Stewart, Mrs. James A. Panting, Mrs. H. F. Jackson and
daughter, Mrs. Charles F. Jackson, Mr. and Mrs. W. R.
Bentley, Miss Ina Jameson, Miss Annie Longfellow, Miss
Millie Longfellow, Walter F. Gushing, Col. G. G. Lyon,
416 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
Dr. Young, D. B. Ward, Colonel Langley, J. T. Ronald,
John Wiley, C. M. Ogden, Colonel Street, Judge Roger S.
Greene, Mr. John Collins, Capt. W. A. Snyder, ex-Atty.-
Gen. J. B. Metcalfe, Lieut. A. B. Wyckoff, and Dr. Whyte
Fredrick.
When the convoy and her noisy consorts had passed out
of Commencement Bay and entered Puget Sound the Re-
ception Committee assembled on deck, and Mayor White
in an address cordially welcomed the President, who, in
response, said:
Mr. Mayor — I accept with great gratification these words of
welcome on behalf of the citizens of Seattle. It will give me great
pleasure to contrast my observations of your State in 1885 with
what I shall see to-day. I have not lost track of the progress of
Seattle, but have, through friends, been advised of the marvellous
development which you have made, and how you have repeated in
the substantial character of your edifices the story of the Chicago
fire, coming as you have out of what seemed a disaster with
increased magnificence, and finding in it really an advantage. I
will defer until I am m the presence of your people any further
acknowledgment of your courtesies, and will now only thank you,
as you are repeating here what we have observed on our whole
trip, namely, the unification of all our people and the absolute
oneness of sentiment in devotion to our institutions and the flag.
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, MAY 6.
THE steamer bearing the presidential party, followed by
a great flotilla that had come out to greet them, arrived
at Seattle at 1 : 30 P.M., and fully 40,000 people witnessed
the disembarking. The city was profusely decorated.
On Pioneer Place stood a triumphal arch bearing the en-
signs of all nations. Ranged at its entrance were the Sons
of Veterans in uniform and 75 school-girls. As the Presi-
dent's carriage entered the great arch the choir-girls greeted
him with a song of welcome, composed for the occasion
by Prof. L. A. Darling. Near the arch, on a platform,
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 417
sat the shrivelled form of Angeline, daughter of Chief
Seattle, the last of the race of royal barbarians who once
fuled in the bays and forests of the sound. She was an
object of great interest to the President and his party.
After visiting Lake Washington on the cable cars the
President was escorted to the University campus by
Stevens, Miller, and Gushing posts, G. A. R., M. M.
Holmes and J. St. Clair, commanders. Thirty thousand
people were assembled on the campus; officials were pres-
ent from every part of the State, also from British Colum-
bia. Opposite the speakers' stand were 2,000 school
children, each waving a flag. Governor Ferry, Senator
John B. Allen, Hon. John H. McGraw, Jacob Furth, and
numerous other prominent men were on the platform with
the President, Secretary Rusk, and Mr Wanamaker.
Rev. G. A. JTewksbury pronounced the invocation. Judge
Thomas Burke then delivered the welcoming address on
behalf of the citizens.
President Harrison replied :
Judge Burke and Fellow -citizens — I am sure you have too much
kindness in your heart to ask me to make an address to you this
afternoon. This chilly air, this drizzling rain, the long exposure
during the day which you and these precious children have
suffered, warn me, on your account as well as my own, that I
should say but a few words in recognition of this magnificent wel-
come. Six years ago I visited your beautiful city, and the distin-
guished gentleman who has been your spokesman to day was one
of a hospitable committee that pointed out to me the beauties of
this location. You were then largely a prospective city. Some
substantial and promising improvements had been begun, but it
was a period of expectancy rather than of realization. I am glad
to come to-day and to see how fully and perfectly the large expec-
tations then entertained by your enterprising people have been
realized. It is a matter of amazement to look upon these towering
substantial granite and iron structures in which the great business
of your city is transacted. That disaster, as it seemed to you,
which swept away a large portion of the business part of your
city was like the afflictions that come to the saints, a blessing in
disguise. _ [Cheers.] You have done what Chicago did. You have
418 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
improved the disaster by rearing structures and completing edifices
that were unthought of before Those \vho were not enterprising
or liberal have been compelled to be liberal and enterprising in
order that they might realize rents for their property made vacant
by fire. [Cheers ]
I fully appreciate the importance of this great body of water
upon which your city is situated. This sound, this inland sea,
must be in the future the highway, the entrepot, of a great com
merce. I do most sincerely believe that we are entering now upon
a new development that will put the American flag upon the seas
and bring to our ports in American bottoms a largely increased
share of the commerce of the world [Cheers. ] As I have said in
other places, for one I am thoroughly discontented with the present
condition of things. We may differ as to methods, but I believe
the great patriotic heart of our people is stirred, and that they are
bent upon recovering that share of the world's commerce which
we once happily enjoyed. Your demonstration to day under these
unfavorable environments has been most creditable to your city
We have certainly seen nothing in a journey characterized by
great demonstrations to surpass this magnificent scene. [Cheers. ]
I realize what your spokesman has said, that in all this there is a
patriotic expression of the love of our people for the flag and for
the Constitution [Cheers ] And now, my friends, thanking you
for all you have done for me, humbly confessing my inability to
repay you, pledging to you my best efforts to promote the good of
all our people, and that I will have a watchful observation of the
needs of your State, of your harbors, for defence, improvement,
and security, I bid you good by. [Cheers.]
After the President's address an effort was made to pre-
sent the veterans individually, but the inclement weather
forbade it. Turning to those about him President Har-
rison said .
T leave you very reluctantly, and I shall alwa)Ts be sorry that my
time was so limited here that I could not do justice to your hos-
pitality. [Great cheering.]
At 5 o'clock the party boarded their train, but a great
crowd had assembled and called repeatedly for the Presi-
dent, who responded and said :
I can only thank you once more ; you have given me a royal
welcome, and I carry away with mo the most grateful memory of
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 410
your kindness. I was up until past midnight last night, making
a speech, and had to he up at 6 o'clock this morning to speak to
some friends in Oregon I leave you with the best wishes for jrour
city and the State, [Enthusiastic cheers. ]
As the President concluded there were loud calls for
Postmaster-General Wanamaker, who waved his hand
toward the children and said :
The reasons given by the President for not making a speech cer-
tainly apply to those who are in your programme to follow him.
I cannot, however, leave the platform without thanking you for
that share of the welcome that falls to us who attended. There is
a chill in the air, but there is no lack of warmth in the cordial
greeting that you have given to us who, though we felt ourselves
to be strangers among you, have found ourselves to be among
friends. I have been trying to find out since the census report
was announced what the reason was that Philadelphia had fallen
behind. [Laughter and applause.] It is all very plain to me now.
This city set on a hill I shall put down in my book as Philadelphia
Junior. [Applause.] You have the family likeness I recognize
some of you by name, and I do not wonder that you have settled
in this beautiful spot, so rich in its resources, where you discov
ered everything that we have in Pennsylvania except one thing,
and I expect you will find that before long, and I am sure that I
hope that you will find the anthracite coal stored away somewhere
in your hills I know if you undertake to find it you will do it.
[Applause. ] You need no better illustration than the choir over
yonder, that could not be stopped even to allow the President to
speak. [Applause and laughter. ] I shall carry away from here a
stoiy that I am afraid they will call a California story, but I will
get your Mayor to give me a certificate that I was perfectly sober —
that there was nothing but water. [Applause and laughter. ] And
T shall try to recommend what I have seen in this wild West,
where people have their splendid schools, their many churches,
their refined homes, and where there is such a hearty welcome for
all that come in their midst, For my part of the work at Wash-
ington I have already given you» evidence that the Post-office
Department was thinking of the Pacific coast. I shall do the best
that I can as a business man for this splendid business people that
you have in your city and for the many more that are to come ;
that all the facilities of the mail — quickening it, increasing it —
shall be given to you ; that you shall not say that your Government
does not give you all the assistance iii building up your great
420 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
enterprises and swelling the prosperity of all this coast. I say
good -by to you and give you a heart full of good wishes. [Con-
tinued applause.]
PUYALLUP, WASHINGTON, MAY 6.
IT was 10 P.M. when the train stopped at Puyallup,
where a goodly crowd awaited the visitors. The Presi-
dent shook hands with several score, and in response to
calls for a speech said :
My Fellow -citizens — I am very, glad to see you to-night, but I
am sure you will excuse me from speaking when you remember
that I have been out in the rain all day at Tacoma and Seattle,
and have had to talk several times. I am glad to see you, and
appreciate the friendly interest you manifest in coming out here
to-night in such great numbers to greet us with such kindliness.
I have known for a long time of the great hop industry of this
region, and I am glad to know that it has proven profitable. The
question of the Puyallup reservation was one of the last which was
brought officially to my attention before leaving, and I expect it
will be one of the first I shall take up on my return. Good-night
and good-by.
CHEHALIS, WASHINGTON, MAY 6.
A GREAT crowd greeted the President with cannon and
bonfires on his arrival at Chehalis at 10 : 30 at night. The
Committee of Reception consisted of Mayor Milet, who
delivered an address of welcome ; Judge Ashman, an old
comrade of the President's at Resaca; and J. F. Sachs, an
early pioneer, who presented the President a native haw-
thorn cane.
Responding to greetings the President said :
My Friends — I am very much obliged to you for this midnight
reception. We passed you this morning without stopping, and
regretted it when we saw the number who had collected here. We
gladly yielded to your request to stop to-night in order to show
our appreciation of your kindness. It is very pleasant for me to
see those people who have no interest in politics except for good
government. [Cheers. ]
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 421
CASCADE LOCKS, OREGON, MAY 7.
THE first stop on the morning of the 7th was at Cas-
cade Locks, where several hundred people gave an early
morning greeting to the President, who responded briefly,
saying :
My Friends — I am very much obliged to you for your kindly
greeting, and, as we stop only a few moments, I can only express
my sincere thanks for your presence.
HOOD RIVER STATION, OREGON, MAY 7.
AT Hood River Station the President shook hands with
a number and addressed the gathering as follows :
My Friends — It is very pleasant to see you this morning, and to
come out into the sunshine after two or three days of chilly rain.
I have been talking so much, and so much in the dampness, that
my voice is not very good ; but my heart is always fresh and open
to these receptions. I thank you very sincerely for your friendli-
ness and wish for you all, and especially for these little ones,
every happiness in life. [Cheers.]
THE DALLES, OREGON, MAY 7.
AFTER traversing the famous gorge of the Columbia
River the presidential train at 11 o'clock emerged within
view of the city of The Dalles, where an enthusiastic wel-
come was extended the Chief Executive. The Committee
of Reception consisted of Mayor Moody, D. M. French,
Dr. William Shackelford, J. -A. Varney, R. F. Gibson,
Robert Mays, H. M. Beall, John McCaul, J. P. Mclnerry,
M. T. Nolan, George Ruch, and the following prominent
ladies of the city : Mrs. T. S. Lang, Mrs. N. B. Sinnott,
Mrs. A. M. Williams, Mrs E. M. Wilson, Mrs. S. French,
Mrs. S. Brooks, Mrs. Geo. Liebe, Mrs. Charles Hilton, and
422 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
Mrs. J. Patterson. Many old soldiers and a large number
of school children were present.
Mayor Moody, in behalf of the city, welcomed the Pres-
ident, who responded as follows :
My Friends — I have spoken at all times of the night and all hours
of the day, and under conditions much less auspicious than those
around us this morning. We have here a bright sunshine and a
bracing air, and everything in nature adds to the gladness of this
demonstration which you have made in our honor. I most sin-
cerely thank you for this evidence of your friendliness. I assure
you that it is very pleasant, and I cannot but believe that it is very
useful for those who are charged with public duties at Washington
occasionally to move about a little and look into the faces of the
plain, patriotic people of the country. Most of the people who
come to see me at Washington want something, and as the pro-
vision made by law is not adequate to meet all these wants there
is very apt to be a great deal of discontent • but when we get out
among the great masses of the people, among those who are doing
the work of the farrm, of the shop, and of the office, who have a
patriotic pride in their country and its institutions, and are kindly
disposed, charitable in their judgments, and who have no other
interests than that the laws shall be faithfully executed and the
whole interest of the people faithfully looked after, we find great
refreshment in their presence. I am sure we have such an audi-
ence here this morning. You will not expect of any officer that
he will altogether avoid mistakes ; you have a right to expect a
conscientious, courageous fidelity to public duty. I quite sympa-
thize with the suggestion of your Mayor, that it is one of the
proper Government functions to improve and to open to safe navi-
gation the great waterways of our country. The Government of
the United States has reserved to itself the exclusive control of all
navigable inland waters, and that being so, it is, of course,
incumbent upon the Government to see that the people have the
best possible use of them. They are important, as they furnish
cheap transportation, and touch points that are often, either for
economy or natural reasons, inaccessible to railway traffic. I
thank you again for your interest and bid you a kindly farewell.
If no ill happens to you that I do not wish, and all the good comes
to you that I do wish in your behalf, your lives will be full of
pleasantness and peace. [Enthusiastic cheers. ]
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 423
PENDLETON, OREGON, MAY 7.
AFTER leaving The Dalles the presidential party encoun-
tered a sand storm. At 5 o'clock in the afternoon they
arrived at the beautiful city of Pendleton and were greeted
by a large crowd, including several hundred Umatilla
Indians, led by Chiefs Peo and Ten-a-ow-itz. Chief Peo
made an address and said :
I am glad to greet the great father. Indian and white man are
now one family, friendly, and I give you the hand of welcome for
my people. You represent one race, I another, but we are all of
one Government, and between red man and white there should no
longer be war. My people want only peace. In behalf of my
tribe I say welcome, President.
The Committee of Reception comprised Mayor J. H.
Raley, Judge J. A. Fee, J. M. Leezer, Senator Matlock,
Capt. A. L. Ewing, T. C. Taylor, W. D. Fletcher, S. Roth-
child, T. F. Rourke, R. Alexander, Lot Livermore, Benj. S.
Burroughs, H. L. Marston, T. G. Hailey, W. D. Hansford,
F. W. Vincent, Mrs. M. B. Clopton, Mrs. T. C. Taylor, and
Mesdames Fee, De Spain, and Fletcher. Mayor Raley
made an address of welcome.
The President replied :
My Fellow-citizens — Among all the surprises that have greeted us
on our journey I do not remember any that burst upon us with
more suddenness than this beautiful sight that you have arranged
for our welcome here. Travelling for some hours through a
sparsely settled region, I did not at all anticipate that so large an
assemblage could be gathered here. I am glad to read in your
faces a full confirmation of the Mayor's words of welcome. You
have a pride in the common heritage of Government which our
fathers organized for us. You honor the flag which floats about
us here. It is pleasant to meet here, scattered over these plains of
the West, so many veterans of the great Civil War, men who
came out of the army poor as they went into it, men who did not
serve their country for reward, but out of a loving fealty to its
flag and to their Government : men who asked no questions about
pay, but went with loyal hearts to battle, determined that the flag
424 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
should be maintained in its supremacy from sea to sea ; men who,
returning safely from the vicissitudes of the camp and the march
and from the perils of battle, have been ever since giving their
brave endeavors to open this new country, to increase its pros-
perity, and by honorable labor to make comfortable homes for
themselves and their children. I greet you to day, comrades, with
a loving heart. God grant that these later days — for years are
increasing with us all — may be full of sunshine, full of the respect
of your neighbors, full of prosperity, and crowned at last with the
full blessing of immortality.
To these little ones now enjoying the beneficent provisions which
your State has made for their care and education I give the most
affectionate greeting. The children of this land are the light and
the life of our households. They are in the family what the blos-
soms are in the orchard and garden. May they appreciate the
blessings they enjoy, and when they come to mature years and
take up the unfinished labors of their fathers, may they hold aloft
the flag which their fathers followed to battle and maintain all
those things that conduce to decent and orderly communities and
to the purity of the home. To these pioneers who have under dis-
couragements and great difficulties sought these Western homes
and opened the way for civilization I give my greeting, and to all
I give the assurance that these distant States are not forgotten by
us who are, for the time, chosen to administer public office at
Washington. We take you all into our consideration, our confi-
dence, and our affection. I believe there is a great community of
interest that touches all our States. I believe that our legislation
should be as broad as our territory, should not be for classes, but
should be always in the interest of all our people. And now, thank-
ing you for this most interesting and cordial welcome, I bid you
good -by. [Cheers].
LE GRANDE, OREGON, MAY 7.
THE President had an enthusiastic reception at Le
Grande from several thousand residents. The city was
beautifully illuminated in honor of the visit. The Com-
mittee of Reception consisted of Hon. J. H. Slater, E. S.
McComas, M. F. Honan, and R. E. Bryan. Mayor C. H.
Finn made the welcoming address.
The President responded ;
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 425
My Fellow citizens — It is very gratifying to see this vast assembly
here to-night, and I regret that our arrival was not in the daylight,
that we might have a bett iew of this city and its surroundings,
as well as of these prosperous an-i happy people who are assembled
here to-night. We have travelled many thousands of miles on this
journey, and it has been one continued succession of happy greet-
ings. We have passed through the land of flowers, and they have
strewn our pathway with them We have come now to this north
land where the flowers are not so abundant, but where the welcome
and heartiness of the people is quite as manifest and quite as sin-
cere. I rejoice to have had the opportunity to see portions of the
State of Oregon which I had not previously visited. Your indus-
tries and products are so varied that working together, supplying
the wants of different communities by the productions of each, it
must be that you shall grow in population, and that the rewards of
your labor shall be full and rich. But above all these material
things in which you show the country the resources of your people,
I rejoice that social order, education, good morals, and all those
things that tend to promote the human happiness, the peace of
your communities, and the glory of your State, are also here
thought of and promoted. [Cheers.] We are citizens of one great
country, and I do not believe there is a nation in the world where
there is a more perfect unification of heart and purpose than in the
United States of America. I do not believe there is anywhere any
people more earnestly in love with their institutions and with the
flag that symbolizes them, more in love with peace and peaceful
industries, and yet stronger in their defence of the truth and of
the right. [Cheers. ] I beg again to thank your citizens of this
city and of the surrounding country for this gracious and hospi-
table welcome. [Cheers.]
BAKER CITY, OREGON, MAY 7.
THE closing event of the long day was the reception at
Baker City at 11:30 P.M. Fifteen hundred people were
present and the town was illuminated. The Reception
Committee was Mayor S. B. McCord, Hon. R. S. Anderson,
and Geo. H. Tracy. Joe Hooker Post, G. A. R., Fred K.
Ernst, Commander, was present.
Responding to Mr. Anderson's welcoming address Pres-
ident Harrison said :
420 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
Mr. Mayor and Fellow -citizens — It is very pleasing, so late at
night, to be greeted on our arrival here by this large audience and
by these hearty cheers. We thank you very sincerely for this evi-
dence of your friendly interest, and beg to assure you in return
that not only as public officers, but as citizens with you of this
great country, we are in hearty sympathy with all your pursuits
and plans and hopes in this distant State. I have heard before of
its beauty and the fertility and productiveness of its wheat fields
and of the rich mines which are found in this vicinity. Situated
as you are, the great question with you must be one of transporta-
tion, one of getting the products of your field, the surplus of your
agricultural products, to a market. I hope you appreciate all the
advantages in this regard which the development of these Pacific
cities is giving. Every great manufacturing establishment that is
built there produces and increases population, and makes additional
and nearer market for the products of your fields. I hope the day
is not far distant when the completion of the Nicaragua Canal will
make a shorter way to the Atlantic seaboard States and much
shorter and cheaper communication with a European market. I am
glad to be assured — indeed, I do not need the assurance — that here
in Oregon, as in the Central and Eastern States, we are one people,
loyal and united in the love for the flag which some of these com-
rades aided to be victorious in .the great war, and that you are
thoroughly in love with our American institutions. I am glad to
assure you that, so far as I am concerned, I know no sections in
this country. I desire to promote those measures which shall
always be for the interests of all classes, and which shall diffuse
the benefits of our institutions equally and fairly among all the
States and among all our people. [Cheers. ]
BOISE CITY, IDAHO, MAY 8.
BOISE CITY, the capital of Idaho, was reached at 7 o'clock
the morning of the 8th, where a stop of two hours was
made. The following committee of distinguished officials
and citizens received the President: His Excellency Gov.
N". B. Willey and official staff, comprising Col. E. J. Curtis,
Col. J. A. Torrance, Lieutenant-Colonel Casswell, and
Maj. Geo. F. Hinton; Senator Geo. L. Shoup, Hon. James
A. Pinney, Mayor of Boise City ; R. Z. Johnson, President
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 427
Board of Trade; John Lemp, Charles A. Clark, E. R.
Leonard, C. W. Moore, J. W. Daniels, Calvin Cobb, A. J.
Glorieaux, Nathan Falk, Peter Sonna, A. R. Andola, J.
H.Richards, Hon. S. W. Moody, .Capt.C. C. Stevenson,
and Capt. D. "W. Figgins.
The President was escorted to the Capitol grounds by
Phil. Sheridan Post, G. A. R., D. F. Baker Commander,
A. C. Bellus, Senior Vice-Commander, N. F. Kimball,
Junior Vice-Commander. The parade was in charge of
Maj. H. E. Noyes, of the Fourth Cavalry, and was one of
the most creditable demonstrations witnessed on the trip.
The local militia and more than 1,000 school children par-
ticipated. Every veteran and each scholar carried a flag,
which elicited from President Harrison a beautiful tribute
to the national symbol.
After the review Governor Willey and Mayor Pinney
formally welcomed the President, who responded as follows :
My Friends — This is instructive and inspiring to us all as Amer-
ican citizens. It is my great pleasure to stand for a little while
this morning in the political Capitol of this fresh and new State.
I had great satisfaction in taking an official part in admitting
Idaho to the Union of States. I believed that it was possessed of
a population and resources and capable of a development that fairly
entitled her to take her place among the States of the American
Union. You are starting now upon a career of development which
I hope and believe will be uninterrupted. Your great mineral
resources, now being rapidly developed, have already brought you
great wealth. Undoubtedly these are to continue to be a source of
enrichment and prosperity to your State, but I do not forget that
we must look at last for that paramount and enduring prosperity
and increase which our States should have to a development of
their agricultural resources. You will, of course, as you have
done, carefully guard and secure your political institutions. You
will organize them upon a basis of economy, and yet of liberal
progress. You will take care that only so much revenue is taken
from the people as is necessary to the proper public expenditure.
[Applause. ]
I am glad to see that this banner of liberty, this flag of our
fathers, this flag that these — my comrades here present — defended
428 HARRISONS SPEECHES.
with honor and brought home with victory from the bloody strife
of the Civil War, is held *n honor and estimation among you.
[Great applause.] Every man should take off his hat when the
starry flag moves by. It symbolizes a free republic ; it symbolizes
a Nation ; not an aggregation of States, but one compact, solid
Government in all its relations to the nations of the earth. [Ap-
plause. ] Let us always hold it in honor. I am glad to see that
it floats not only over your political Capitol, but over the school-
houses of your State ; the children should be taught in the primary
schools to know its story and to love it. To these young children,
entering by the beneficent and early provision of your State into
the advantages of that great characteristic American institution —
the common school — I give my greeting this morning. May every
good attend them in life, and as the cares of life come on to take
the place of the joys of childhood, God grant that, instructed in
mind and heart in those things that are high and good, they may
bear with honor the responsibility which you will soon lay down.
To these comrades of the Grand Army of the Republic, survivors
of the great war, upon whom the years are making their impres-
sion, I do not doubt that these who stand by me have borne an
honorable part among your fellow -citizens in the development of
the resources of this, their adopted State. Not long will we tarry ;
but, my comrades, the story of what you have done is undying,
and I doubt not this morning that the satisfaction of having had
some small part in redeeming this Nation and preserving its integ-
rity will fill your hearts with gladness, even under adverse condi-
tions of life. A grateful Nation honors you. Every community
should give you its respect, and I can only add to-day a comrade's
greeting and a hearty God bless you all ! [Cheers. ]
POCATELLO, IDAHO, MAY 8.
A GREAT crowd, including several hundred Indians,
greeted the President's arrival at Pocatello the night of
uhe 8th. The Committee of Reception consisted of Fred-
erick K. Walker, A. B. Bean, A. F. Caldwell, John S.
Baker, O. L. Cleveland, R. J. Hayes, E. C. Hase}% George
Dash, Frank Ramsey, J. J. Guheen, H. G. Guynn, and L.
A. West. A large delegation from Blackfoot was repre-
sented on the committee by Hon. F. W. Beane, Col. J. W.
Jones, and F. W. Yogler.
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 429
Chairman Savidge of the committee delivered the wel-
coming address and introduced the President, who said :
Fellow -citizens — In 1881, that sad summer when General Garfield
lay so long in agony and the people suffered so long in painful sus-
pense, I passed up the Utah and Northern Narrow Gauge Railroad
through this place — if it was a place then — to Montana on a visit.
The country through which we have passed is therefore not un-
familiar to me. I have known of its natural conditions, and I
have seen its capabilities when brought under the stimulating in-
fluence of irrigation. I have had, during my term in the Senate,
as Chairman of the Committee on Territories of that body, to give
a good deal of attention to the condition and needs of our Terri-
tories. My sympathy and interest have always gone out to those
who, leaving the settled and populous parts of our country, have
pushed the frontiers of civilization farther and farther to the west-
ward until they have met the Pacific Ocean and the setting sun.
Pioneers have always been enterprising people. If they had not
been they would have remained at home ; they endured great hard-
ships and perils in opening these great mines of minerals which
show in your State, and in bringing into subjection these wild
plains and making them blossom like gardens. To all such here
I would do honor, and you should do honor, for they were heroes
in the struggle for the subjugation of an untamed country to the
uses of man. I am glad to see that you have here so many happy
and prosperous people. I rejoice at the increase of your popula-
tion, and am glad to notice that with this development in popu-
lation and in material wealth you are giving attention to those
social virtues — to education and those influences which sanctify the
home, make social order secure, and honor and glorify the institu-
tions of our common country. [Cheers. ]
I am glad, not only for the sake of the white man, but of the
red man, that these two extensive and useless reservations are
being reduced by allotment to the Indians for farms, which they are
expected to cultivate and thereby to earn their own living [cheers] ,
that the unneeded lands shall furnish homes for those who need
homes. [Cheers. ]
And now, fellow-citizens, extending to such comrades of the
Grand Army of the Republic as I see scattered about through this
audience my most cordial greeting as a comrade, to these children
and these ladies who share with you the privations of early life on
the frontier, and to all my most cordial greeting and most sincere
thanks for your kindly demonstration, I will bid you good-by.
[Great cheering. ]
430 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, MAY 9.
AT Pocatello the President was met by a committee
representing the citizens of Ogden, Utah, who took this
opportunity to pay their respects, it being impracticable to
hold a reception in that city owing to the late hour the
train passed. The Ogden committee consisted of Mayor
W. H. Turner and wife, Hon. James A. Miner, E. M. Alli-
son and wife, J. R. Elliott, W. N. Shilling and wife, Capt.
Ransford Smith, Wm. H. Smith, M. N". Graves and wife,
Col. A. C. Howard, Rev. A. J. Bailey, E. M. Correl and
wife, Thomas Bell, J. Cortez and wife, W. W. Funge and
wife, O. E. Hill and wife, John K Boyle, Gilbert Belnap
and wife, Joseph Belnap, J. S. Painter, Maj. R. H. Whip-
pie, W. R. White, and Prof. T. B. Lewis.
The committee appointed by Governor Thomas to meet
and welcome the President at the State line on behalf of
the Territory of Utah consisted of Hon. E. P. Ferry, of
Park City; H. G. Whitney, O. J. Salisbury, and M. K.
Parsons, of Salt Lake; Lieutenant Dunning, of Fort
Douglas ; and Chief- Justice Zane, Associate Justice An-
derson, Hon. C. S. Varian, Colonel Godfrey, John E.
Dooly, Heber M. Wells, E. C. Coffin, and Spencer Clawsoii.
The presidential party arrived at the " City of Zion" at
2:45 A.M. At 8 o'clock they were met by Governor
Thomas and Mayor Geo. M. Scott at the head of the
following Citizens' Committee of Reception: Secretary
Sells, Irving A. Benton, General Kimball, Colonel Nelson,
Commissioner Robertson, C. C. Goodwin, Hon. J. T. Caine,
R. C. Chambers, Fred Simon, Hoyt Sherman, Ellsworth
Daggett, Judge Blackburn, Colonel Lett, James Hans-
borough, Frank D. Hobbs, Judge Miner, General Connor,
Judge Bartch, J. H. Rumel, C. E. Allen, Arthur Pratt,
H. G. McMillan, J. P. Bache, Judge Boreman, W. H. H.
Spafford, A. J. Pendleton, Fred Heath, W. L. Pickard, H.
Pembroke, Daniel Wolstenholm, Councilman Armstrong,
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 431
W. P. Noble, Louis Cohn, W. P. Lynn, L. C. Karrick, E.
R. Clute, J. B. Walden, J. M. Young, Sheriff Burt, Select-
men Howe, Miller, and Gaboon ; C. B. Jack, W. H. Ban-
croft, R. Mackintosh, J. H. Bennett, Robert Harkness, H.
W. Lawrence, J. B. Toronto, and Mesdames Zane, Salis-
bury, Dooly, Blunt, Chambers, Goodwin, James, Ander-
son, Lawrence, Gaylord, Simon, and Bartch ; Miss Robert-
son, Mrs. I. A. Benton, and Mrs. Hobbs. This committee
and a large body of citizens escorted the party to the
Walker House, where breakfast was served. The Presi-
dent then headed a procession, composed of U. S. troops,
State guards, G. A. R. veterans, pioneers, and many other
local organizations, and was escorted to a pavilion in
Liberty Park.
Governor Thomas and Mayor Scott delivered welcoming
addresses, to which President Harrison responded as fol-
lows:
Fellow -citizens — The scenes which have been presented to us in
this political and commercial metropolis of the Territory of Utah
have been very full of beauty and full of hope. I have not seen in
all this long journey, accompanied as it has been with every man-
ifestation of welcome and crowned with flowers, anything that
touched my heart more than that beautiful picture on one of your
streets this morning w^hen the children from the free public schools
of Salt Lake City, waving the one banner that we all love [cheers]
and singing an anthem of praise to that beneficent Providence
that led our worthy forefathers to land and has followed the path-
way of this Nation with His beneficent care until this bright hour,
gave us their glad welcome. [Applause and cheers. ]
My service in public life has been such as to call my special at-
tention to, and to enlist my special interest in, the people of the
Territories. It has been a pleasant duty to welcome the Dakotas,
Washington, Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming into the great sister-
hood of the States. I think it has not fallen to any President of
the United States to receive into the Union so large a number of
States. The conditions that surround you in this Territory are of
the most hopeful character. The diversity of your productions,
your mines of gold and silver, iron, lead and coal, placed in such
proximity as to make the work of mining and reduction easy and
432 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
economical ; your well -watered valley, capable, under the skilful
touch of the husbandman, of transformation from barren wastes
into fruitful fields — all these lying in easy reach and intercommu-
nication, one with the other, must make the elements of a great
commercial and political community. You do not need to doubt
the future. You will step forward confidently and progressively
in the development of your great material wealth.
The great characteristic of our American institutions — the com-
pact of our Government — is that the will of the majority, expressed
by legal methods at the ballot-box, shall be the supreme law of all
our community. To the Territories of the United States a measure
of local government has always been given, but the supervisory
control, the supreme legislative and executive power has been,
continuously, as to the Territories, held and exercised by the gen-
eral Government at Washington. The territorial state has always
been regarded as a temporary one. The general Government has
always looked forward to a division of its vast domain — first, the
territory northwest of the Ohio, then the Louisiana purchase, then
these accessions upon the Pacific coast — into suitable sections for
the establishment of free and independent States. This great work
of creating States has gone forward from the Ohio to the Pacific,
and now we may journey from Maine to Puget Sound through
established States. [Cheers.]
The purity of the ballot box, the wise provisions and careful
guardianship that shall always make the expression of the will of
the people fair, pure and true, is the essential thing in American
life. We are a people organized upon principles of liberty, but,
my good countrymen, it is not license. It is liberty within and
under the law. [Great applause.] I have no discord, as a public
officer, with men of any creed or politics if they will obey the law.
My oath of office, my public duty, requires me to be against those
who violate the law.
The foundation of American life is the American home. That
which distinguishes us from other nations whose political experi-
ence and history have been full of strife and discord is the Ameri-
can home, where one wife sits in single uncrowned glory. [Great
applause and cheers.] And now, my countrymen, I beg to assure
you that every hope you have for safe running on these lines of
free government, on these lines of domestic and social order, I
have. For every one of you I have the most cordial greeting.
God bless and keep you and guide you in the paths of social purity,
order, and peace, and make you one of the great communities of the
American Union. [Cheers.]
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 4«3
Chamber of Commerce Speech.
The visitors were then taken to the new Chamber of
Commerce, where the business men of the city greeted the
Chief Executive. The occasion was also the formal open-
ing of the building for business.
President Harrison made an address. He said :
I am very glad to witness in this magnificent structure which
you are opening to-day for your use an evidence of the commercial
importance of the city. Organizations of this character are very
useful when rightly conducted, very promotive of the business
prosperity of the cities in which they are established, and of the
best interest of their membership. It is quite right that those who
may be engaged in the rivalries of business, pushing their several
lines of trade with the energy and enterprise that characterize our
people, should now and then assemble and lay aside things that
are personal and selfish and consider the things that affect the
whole community. These organizations, as I have known them in
other States, have been the council chamber in which large and
liberal things have been devised for the development of the inter-
ests and prosperity of the community. I do not doubt that you
will do so here ; that new enterprise will be welcomed, and that
the friendly business hand will be extended to those who are seek-
ing investments. I wish you all success in this enterprise, and I
hope you may grow until its membership shall embrace all of your
commercial classes, and that its influence may do for your business
here what the water of your mountain streams has done for the
plains — make them grow longer and more productive, and at the
same time expel from them those mean jealousies which sometimes
divide men. [Prolonged Cheers. ]
Address to the School Children.
The party visited the Mormon Tabernacle, which was
profusely decorated with bunting and flags. On the side
af the Temple in large letters was the motto " Fear God ;
Honor the President." The entire city was tastefully
decorated. The President reviewed the school children,
about 2,000 in number. They rendered patriotic songs,
and he addressed them in the following happy speech :
To the School Children— In all this joyous journey through this
land of flowers and the sunny South I have seen nothing more
S8
434 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
beautiful and inspiring than this scene which burst upon us so
unexpectedly This multitude of children bearing waving banners
makes a scene which can never fade from our memories. Here,
in these children from the free schools established and guarded by
your public authorities, is the hope of Utah and the country.
[Cheers.] I give you my thanks for a demonstration that has
cheered my heart. May each of you enjoy every blessing that a
free country and a more beneficent and kindly Creator can bestow.
[Cheers.]
LEHI CITY, UTAH, MAY 9
THE first stop after leaving the capital of Utah was at
Lehi City, where a large sugar factory is located. The
Committee of Reception consisted of Mayor A. J. Evans,
Bishop T. R. Cutler, James Harwood, and C. A. Granger.
The President made a brief address, saying :
My Friends — This industry which you have established here is
very interesting to me. I hope it is to open the way to a time
when we shall have a home supply of sugar for every household.
[Cheers. ]
PROVO CITY, UTAH, MAY 9.
THE presidential train arrived at Provo — the Garden
City of Utah — at 1 : 30 P.M. The greeting was a cordial
one; about 1,000 school children were present. The Re-
ception Committee was Mayor J. E. Booth, R. H. Dodd,
J. R. Bishop, J. B. McCauslin, M. M. Kellogg, W. S.
Myton, E. A. Wilson, Wm. H. King, D. D. Houtz, Dr. J.
N. Christensen, Dr. H. Simmons, F. F. Reed, G. W. Olger,
and W. Burlew.
Mayor Booth introduced the President, who spoke as
follows :
Mr. Mayor and Fellow-citizens — This is another of those bright
and beautiful pictures that have been spread before our eyes on
this whole journey from Washington. I am glad to stop for a
moment in this enterprising and prosperous city. I am glad to
know that you are adding manufacturing to your agriculture, and
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 435
that you are weaving some of the abundance of wool that is fur-
nished by your flocks. It is the perfection of society, commer-
cially, when you find immediately at your own doors a market for
those things that you have to sell. You are a long way from the
seaboard. The transportation companies, however fair their rates
may be, must levy very heavy tolls upon your produce for taking
it to the Atlantic or to the Pacific. It is then a pleasing thing
when, instead of sending your wool to some distant city to be
woven into cloth, you can do that work yourselves as you develop,
bringing in these manufacturing industries whose employees con-
sume the products of your farm and in turn give to the farmer that
which he and his children have to wear. You are approaching
the most independent commercial condition. When every farmer
is able to sell from his own wagon everything he produces and is
emancipated from transportation tolls, he is independent and pros-
perous.
I am glad to see these dear children here coming from the
free schools of your city. The public school is a most whole-
some and hopeful institution. It has an assimilative power pos-
sessed by no other institution in our country. Where the children
of rich and poor mingle together on the play ground and in the
school-room, there is produced a unity of feeling and a popular
love for public institutions that can be brought about in no other
way. [Cheers. ] God bless and promote your public schools until
every child in your Territory shall be gathered into them. [Cheers. ]
AMERICAN FORK, UTAH, MAY 9.
EARLY in the afternoon a brief stop was made at Amer-
ican Fork, where several hundred children were mar-
shalled under Bishop George Halliday (Mormon) and Rev.
F. G. Webster. The Reception Committee consisted of
Mayor George Cunningham, James Chipman, John J.
Gushing, and John F. Pribyl.
The President, addressing the school children, said :
I want to express my interest in these dear children who have
gathered here. It is very pleasant to have at all these little sta-
tions these expressions of your good-will. I rejoice to see the
development which has taken place in these regions since I was
here a few years ago, and I have no doubt that it will go on until
all your valleys are prosperous and full of happy homes. [Cheers. ]
430 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
SPRINGVILLE, UTAH, MAY 9.
As the presidential train reached Castle Gate, a mining
town on the summit of the Wahsatch Mountains, the peo-
ple turned out en masse. A salute was fired with dyna-
mite cartridges. The President briefly thanked the people
for their greeting.
At Springville, the last stopping-point in Utah, the
committee that welcomed the President consisted of Don
C. Johnson, Joseph M. Westwood, H. M. Dougall, R. A.
Deal, and Anthony Ethier.
Governor Thomas introduced President Harrison, who
said:
My Friends — Your towns in Utah are very close together. I
scarcely close an address at one before we are in the corporate
limits of another ; but I am glad to receive here this pleasant wel-
come. The evidence of kindliness which I read in all your faces
is very reassuring and very comforting. It is delightful, I think,
to those who are charged with public duties to come now and then
and look into the faces of the people who have no other interest
than that the Government shall be well administered. [Cheers.]
I cannot hope, of course, to give a post office to everybody. I have
endeavored in the selection of those who are to administer the
functions of public office for the general Government to secure
good men. I have desired that everywhere they should understand
that they were the servants of the people [applause], that they
were to give the best public service possible, and that they were to
treat everybody alike.
It has been very pleasant to-day to ride through this most ex-
traordinary valley, and to notice how productive your fields are
and how genial and kindly your people are. [Cheers. ]
I am to do whatever I can in public office to serve our people.
I am glad to contribute whatever I can as a citizen to the general
prosperity and to the glory and dignity of our country. [Cheers. ]
And now one word or two to these few comrades who gather
about me. They are not many, but they are entitled to honor.
Those who struggled in the early years to establish homes in the
West, and those who in the hour of public distress and peril bared
their breasts to the shaft of battle that the Nation might live, are
worthy of the highest regard. [Cheers. ] You have entered into
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 437
the heritage which they bought and preserved. May you, with as
true, loyal hearts as they, preserve and hand down to your children
these institutions. [Cheers. ]
GLENWOOD SPRINGS, COLORADO, MAY 10.
AT an early hour Sunday morning, May 10, the presi-
dential party arrived at Glenwood Springs, where they
were met by the Governor of Colorado, Hon. J. L. Routt,
Chief -Justice J. C. Helm, Hon. N. P. Hill, ex-Senator H.
A. W. Tabor, and Congressman Townsend, from Denver.
At 8 o'clock the Hon. J. L. Hodges, Mayor of the city, with
Judge G. D. Thayer, L. Schwarz, C. W. Darrow, J. H.
Fesler, F. Mager, and M. W. Mather, escorted the party to
the Hotel Glenwood, where they passed the day. The
President and Postmaster-General Wanamaker attended
divine services at the Presbyterian Church. The pastor,
Rev. W. S. Rudolph, was assisted by Rev. A. E. Arm-
strong, of Leadville, and Rev. L. N. Haskell, of Denver,
Chaplain of the State Senate. The city was filled with
thousands of visitors from Aspen and other neighboring
mining towns and camps until over 10,000 people were
gathered — notwithstanding it was the Sabbath — to greet
the Chief Magistrate of the Nation.
When the President returned from witnessing several
members of his party enjoy a dip in the mammoth pool he
was met by Mayor Hodges at the head of the following
Reception Committee of prominent citizens : Joseph Love,
A. W. Dennis, Reed Burritt, F. C. Ewing, F. S. Dart,
F. C. Sohram, H. C. Eaton, J. R. De Remer, Alex. Ander-
son, A. W. Dennis, Miles Standish, J. L. Hays, W. H.
Hallett, H. R. Kamm, J. T. McLean, W. H. Bradt, J.
R. Wallingford, J. G. Pease, Paul Blount, J. H. Campbell,
C. B. Ellis, B. T. Napier, Thomas Kendrick, E. T. Wolver-
ton, Fred Korupkat, C. A. Lee, Dr. G. H. Moulton, M. V.
B. Blood, James Leach, P. F. Carr, George Edinger, W.
438 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
H. Spear, Joseph Enzensperger, C. M. Keck, J. W. Bea-
inan, J. M. Stevens, R. O. Hoover, E. Schuster, J. W.
Ross, William Chrisman, G. H. Ferris, F. A. Enoch,
Frank Lindsley, Frank Kaiser, J. A. I. Claudon, F. A.
Barlow, Ed. B. Everett, N. Falk, H. C. Bunte, H. W.
Ennen, William Dougan, Dr. L. G. Clark, James Ander-
son, Chris. Beck, J. S. Swan, H. J. Holmes, James Cough-
lin, S. H. Wood, John Miller, N. S. Henderson, J. M.
Durand, Jr., Matt. Carroll, John Lynch, W. H. Trumbor,
S. W. Nott, B. Hopkins, William Houston, C. V. Noble,
C. M. Kiggins, Dr. E. A. Bryant, J. N. Bishop, William
Denning, A. Miller, J. H. Connor, C. H. Belding, William
Dinkle, C. L. Todd, George Yule, C. A. Hahn, H. H. Gates,
James Soister, C. C. Hendrie, P. R. Morris, J. L. Noonan,
Fred L. Walthers, T. W^. Thomas, C. C. Parks, J. T.
Shumate, Wm. Gelder, M. J. Bartley, A. E. Bartlett, John
McReavy, W. S. Parkinson, Frank Dallis, E. H. Watson,
J. H. Bixby, Jake Kline, M. M. Cantrell, J. H. Pierce, C.
C. Streeter, E. T. Taylor, John Eitel, P. C. Coryell, Frank
Mason, Fred Korn, W. H. Richardson, H. C. Babize,
George Bennett, Frank Lyle, J. F. Myser, R. Stees, J.
W. Ritter, R. P. Mallaby, W. De Long, L. F. Grace, Ed.
Meachem, Andrew Anderson, Joe Keating, W. H. Sikes,
W. L. W^illoughby, T. R. Williams, J. W. Dollison, Alex.
Voorhees, Theo. Rosenberg, H. T. Sale, S. J. De Lan,
William Cardnell, G. B. Garrison, R. M. Hedden, P. H.
Fitzpatrick, C. W. Durand, Kellie Cookson, Albert Ger-
stle, F. P. Monroe, William Shaw, C. J. Feist, E. E.
Knight, George Phillips, Ed. S. Hughes, D. W. Smart, P.
G. Foote, W. T. Beans, C. Poole, J. H. Mager, W. J.
Brennan, Murdo McLeod, J. E. Chaney, A. W. Maxfield,
William Smith, A. M. Stevenson, C. B. Brown, M. N. Ed-
wards, and Harry Van Sickle.
The Mayor made the welcoming address and presented
the President with a solid silver plate, superbly engraved
with the coat-of-arms of Colorado.
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 489
President Harrison replied :
Mr. Mayor and Fellow-citizens — In arranging the programme of
this trip, and desiring to find one day in the seven for rest, we
selected this spot because of its fame throughout the East as one of
delightful location and natural attractions. I am glad this selec-
tion was made. It has given me much pleasure — the beauty of
your surroundings and especially the picturesque attractiveness
and magnificence of the scenery. . The city which you are launch-
ing forth upon the tide of usefulness and prosperity will grow in
fame. I thank you most cordially for this souvenir, and I leave
with you my most earnest hope for the prosperity of the city.
Senator Tabor introduced a delegation from Aspen repre-
senting 1,000 miners from that famous camp. Col. E. F.
Browne then presented a most unique souvenir — a silver
card bearing mottoes worked in native wire silver.
In accepting this rare token the President said :
This is one of the most beautiful of all the souvenirs that have
been presented me on this trip. I wish to say to you that I do not
regard your visit as an intrusion. I will not undertake to dilate
upon the fatigue of this trip. I have been leaning over the hind
rail of the train for a long time, and I came to Glenwood Springs
tired. I wish to remain quiet, not from any puritanical notion of
the Sabbath, and I hope none of you will feel that way. It is not
because I don't want to see you. It is the contrary, I assure you,
and I regret my inability to give you all a public reception.
I have for Aspen and her people the kindest wishes. As for the
State of Colorado, it will grow more vigorous and richer in all that
makes an American commonwealth.
In common with Western States, Colorado has had the pick of
the people of the Eastern States. It seems to me as though her
citizens had passed competitive examination for push and enter-
prise, and only the worthless were turned back at the ferry. I
thank you for your liberality.
Charles R. Bell, of Aspen, State President Patriotic Or-
der Sons of America, presented the President with an ad-
dress. In the afternoon President Harrison and Mr.
Wanamaker attended union services and children's mass-
meeting at Durand's Hall. Rev. H. M. Law presided, but
Mayor Hodges introduced the President, who said :
440 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
Mr. Mayor, Fellow-citizens and Children — Our stop at Glenwood
Springs was, as you all know, intended to be for rest ; and yet I
have not felt that I could deny myself to this large body of friends
assembled from the homes of this city, and, perhaps, to an even
larger body of friends who have come from some of the neighboring
towns to pay their respects and testify their good-will. The trip
we have been making has been a prolonged one, and it has been a
continued experience of speech- making and hand-shaking. The
physical labor has been very great, and I think if one had been
called upon to do the same amount of work without the stimulus
and inspiration which have come from the happy faces and kind
hearts of the people who have greeted us, almost any man would
have given out. Certainly I would had I not been borne up and
helped by the wonderful kindness of our people.
I have been intensely interested in what I have seen. It has
testified to me of the unity of the people East and West. Out here
you take on some peculiarities as we do in Indiana, but underneath
these peculiarities there is the same true American grit and spirit.
[Applause. ] It is not wonderful that this should be so. It is not
a mere likeness between different people, because you are precisely
the same people that I have known in the Central and Eastern
States. Everywhere I have gone I have seen Hoosiers ; everywhere
Mr. Wanamaker has gone he has seen Pennsylvanians ; everywhere
General Rusk has gone Wisconsin hands have been reached up to
him. These new States have been filled up by the enterprising
and pushing young men of the older States. They have set out to
find here greater advantages, more rapid pathways to wealth and
competence. Many of them have found it, many of them are still
perhaps in the hard struggle of life ; but to you all, to every man,
whether he is mine-owTner or handles the pick, I bring you my
warmest sympathy and my most sincere thanks for your friendly
greeting. [Applause. ]
Our Government was instituted by wise men — men of broad
views. It was based upon the idea of the equal rights of men. It
absolutely rejects the idea of class distinction and insists that men
should be judged by their behavior. That is a good rule ; those
who are law-abiding and well-disposed, those who pursue their
vocations lawfully and with due respect to the rights of others, are
the true American citizens. I am glad to know that the love of
our institutions is so deeply imbedded in your hearts. It has been
a most delightful and cheering thing to see that the starry banner,
the same old flag that some of you carried amid the smoke of
battle, the rattle of musketry, booming of cannon, and the dying
HARRISONS SPEECHES. 441
of men, is in the hands of such children. [Applause.] Some of
the prettiest as well as some of the most hopeful sights we have
looked upon have been these companies of children gathered on
the streets or hill-sides waving this banner.
The American institutions deserve our watchful care. All our
communities should be careful in the beginning to establish law
and maintain it. It is very difficult when lawlessness once obtains
the upper hand to put it down. It is very easy to keep it out of
any community if the well-disposed, true-hearted people will sink
all their differences, religious and political, and stand together as
citizens for the good of their municipalities. [Applause.]
I want to thank the children who have gathered for this Sabbath-
day's observance. I have had a life that has been full of labor.
From my early manhood until this hour my time has had many
demands upon it. I have been under the pressure of the practice
of my profession. I 'have been under the pressure of political
campaigns and of public office, and yet in all these pursuits, and
under all these conditions, I have found, simply as a physical
question, without reference to its religious aspects at all, that I
could do more by working six days than seven.
I think you will all find it so, and that as a civil institution rest
on the Sabbath day is good for man. It is not only good, but it is
the right of the workingman. Men should have one free day in
which to think of their families, of themselves, of things that are
not material, but are spiritual. [Applause.]
I desire to express from a sincere and earnest heart my thanks
to you all for all your kindness, giving you in return simply the
pledge that I will in all things keep in mind what seems to me to
be the true interests of our people. I have no thought of sections,
I have no thought upon any of the great public questions that does
not embrace the rights and interests of all our people and all our
States. I believe we shall find a common interest and safe ground
upon all the great questions, and by moderating our own views
and making reasonable and just concessions we shall find them all
settled wisely and in the true interest of the people. [Applause. ]
442 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
LEADVILLE, COLORADO, MAY 11.
LEADVILLE, the Cloud City, was reached at 7:30 A.M.
Monday. Ten thousand citizens greeted the Chief Mag-
istrate at this greatest of silver camps. The following
delegation met the presidential party at Glen wood and
escorted them to Leadville : His Honor Mayor John E.
Foutz, Hon. H. I. Higgins, W. Arens, John Harvey, A.
Sherwin, A. V. Hunter, S. F. Maltby, John Ewing, John
Williams, W. F. Patrick, H. C. Burnett, Rev. A. E.
Armstrong, Mrs. Foutz, Mrs. Hunter, Mrs. Morgan H.
Williams, and Mrs. E. Forbes. The ladies of this com-
mittee presented Mrs. Harrison with numerous beautiful
silver souvenirs.
Chairman Higgins and the following members of the
Reception Committee escorted the party to the Hotel Kit-
chen : Mrs. W. F. Patrick, W. W. Old, Mrs. J. Y. Oliver,
A. A. Blow, Mrs. H. W. Hardinge, Charles Cavender,
Rev. E. S. Ralston, B. S. Buell, Samuel Brown, A. Sher-
win, Robert Estey, H. R. Pendery, Charles L. Hill, J. S.
Jones, Robert Cary, Geo. W. Trimble, C. P. Schumacher,
J. S. Saunders, John Harvey, J. H. Weddle, John Row-
land, W. F. Patrick, Hon. Wm. Kellogg, Frank G. White,
John F. Champion, James Smith, Moses Londoner, J. J.
M. McRobbie, Maj. A. V. Bohn, and John Lumsden. The
veterans of Garfield Post, G. A. R., composed the guard
of honor. Judge Luther M. Goddard made the welcoming
address, and in the name of the city presented the distin-
guished visitor a silver brick.
The President responded as follows :
Mr. Mayor and Fellow -citizens — This rare, pure atmosphere, this
bright sunshine, the national colors, this multitude of lifted, smil-
ing faces to greet us is a scene that should raise the dullest heart
to emotions of thankfulness and pride — pride wholly separated from
personal considerations , a pride in which everything personal is
swallowed up by the contemplation that all this is the outcome,
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 443
the manifestation, the culmination of free American institutions.
[Cheers.] We stand here on this mountain-top and see what I
think is the highest evidence of American pluck to be found in
the United States. [Laughter and applause.] I have addressed
my fellow-citizens on many thousands of occasions, but never
before stood so near the dome. [Cheers.] It is a wonderful testi-
mony to the energy and adaptation of the American that he should
have pushed his way to this high altitude, above the snow-line,
and erected here these magnificent and extensive industries and
these beautiful and happy homes. I rejoice with you in all that
has been accomplished here.
I bring thanks to you for that great contribution you have made
to the wealth of a country we all love. [Cheers. ] I bring to you
the assurance that as an individual citizen and as a public officer
my interest, my affection, and my duty embrace all the people of
this land. [Cries of "Good !" and cheers.]
I am glad to know we have in the past histoiy of our country
found that happy unity of interest which has acted beneficially
upon all our institutions and all our people. With due regard to
all local interests, we should seek that general legislation which
touches with kindly fingers the humblest homes in our land. I do
most sincerely thank you for this token of the product of your
mines. It is a precious metal, but much more precious to me is
the kindly thought and the generous welcome which you have
given us in Leadville. [Cheers. ]
My lungs are unaccustomed to this rare and stimulating atmos-
phere, and you will permit me to close by giving you all, to the
men who, deep down in these mines, are toilsomely working out
the precious metal, to those who welcome you in your homes when
you return from your toil, the wives and children who add grace
and sweetness to our lives, to these children who have gathered
to greet us, a most cordial salutation and a regretful good -by.
[Cheers. ]
444 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
BUENA VISTA, COLORADO, MAY 11.
BUENA VISTA gave the President a cordial greeting.
The Committee of Reception included Mayor Mason, Hon.
A. R. Kenedy, Capt. A. V. P. Day, A. H. Wade, Col.
Henry Logan, J. C. Stuart, and A. C. Bottorff. Phil. Sher-
idan Post, G. A. R., Col. G. D. Childs Commander, partic-
ipated in the reception. Dr. Struthers and W. W. Fay
presented the President with three fine trout caught in
Thompson's Lake, and weighing six pounds each.
President Harrison said :
My Friends — I am very glad to see your bright and kind faces
this morning, and to tarry for a few moments, just long enough to
say "How do you do?" and "Good-by." It is very pleasant to find
everywhere and at every station the same friendly looks and the
same kindly greeting. I am glad to have an opportunity that I
have not previously had of seeing the State of Colorado, great in
her present condition and having a greater future development
than perhaps you yourselves realize. This combination of agri-
cultural and mining industries can work but good for the high
development of Colorado. Your cattle and your sheep and your
mines and your agriculture in your valleys all produce that ideal
condition of things in which you find a nearer market for what
you raise. I hope the time will come when in addition to smelting
furnaces in your mines you will learn to weave the wool from your
sheep in place of sending it abroad to be made into clothing. The
more you can develop these things and do your own work the
more prosperous will be your condition. These dear children have
cheered me heartily all the way on this journey. The public
schools are worthy of your most thoughtful care. It is there that
the children meet on a common ground. It is there class distinc-
tions are wiped out. It is the great American institution. You
have well named your little hamlet Buena Vista. [Cheers.]
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 445
SALIDA, COLORADO, MAY 11.
THREE thousand people from the surrounding district
welcomed the President at Salida. The Reception Com-
mittee consisted of Mayor John G. Hollenbeck, J. H. Stead,
S. M. Jackson, W. W. Roller, J. A. Israel, E. B. Jones, and
W. P. Harbottle. Stanton Post, G. A. R., W. G. West-
fall Commander, and the children of the public schools
were present. Miss Clara Ayers, on behalf of the public
schools, presented Mrs. Harrison with a handsome portfolio
of Colorado wild flowers prepared by Mrs. E. P. Chester.
Dr. Durbin, on behalf of the citizens of Villa Grove, pre-
sented a fine collection of mineral specimens.
President Harrison spoke as follows :
I have looked with great interest, in passing through these moun-
tain gorges, at the enterprise of the people who have constructed
intersecting lines of railroad upon these difficult grades and through
threatening canons. It has not been many days since such feats of
engineering would have been regarded as impossible, and yet now
railroads have touched the highest points, have gone above the
snow line, have reached elevated mines, and brought isolated val-
leys into rapid and easy communication with the more settled parts
of the country. It has given me great pleasure to look upon the
beautiful valley in which the town of Salida is situated, and which
will undoubtedly be capable of large agricultural production when
a system of irrigation is completed. It might be desirable to the
people of Indiana and Illinois and other agricultural States if Col-
orado had to buy her wheat and corn from them, but our larger
interest makes it desirable that every community should supply its
own wants. I anticipate with pleasure the day when these moun-
tain States will not be content with mining, but shall add agricult-
ural pursuits and manufacturing, and when the wool which is
sheared from the flocks will be woven at home. [Cheers. ]
It is a pleasant condition of things when all classes are prosper-
ous, when the workingman has fair wages that leave him some
margin above his daily necessities. I should lose hope for our
institutions when there should be despairing- classes among us. An
American citizen could not be a good citizen who did not have
hope in his heart. Every boy, however humble, can pass through
446 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
our public schools and climb to any position of usefulness and
honor he has the ability to attain. There have been marvellous
instances of what courage and pluck and intelligence may do in
this way.
To the children I give a cordial greeting. They have been a
happy feature of almost every gathering in the journey. I hope
they may all receive that attention which will make them men and
women of intelligence, and capable of taking a full share in all
these good things in the community and in the State, for which
they are to be responsible. [Cheers.]
CANON CITY, COLORADO, MAY 11.
LEAVING Salida the route lay through a stretch of coun-
try unsurpassed in grandeur. The trai^ made a short
stop on the hanging bridge over the Arkansas River in the
Grand Canon. Emerging through the Royal Gorge the
party reached Canon City at 2 P.M. amid the cheers of
its entire population, including 400 school children. Mayor
J. M. Bradbury, T. M. Harding, A. D. Cooper, and War-
den W. A. Smith were among the prominent residents who
welcomed the President ; also, Greenwood Post, G. A. R. ,
Dr. J. L. Prentiss, Commander.
President Harrison spoke as follows :
Comrades and Fellow -citizens — It gives me great pleasure to see
you and accept with a thankful heart those cordial greetings with
which you have met us. I have been talking so much since I left
Washington that I really am almost talked out ; and yet, until I
shall have altogether lost my voice, of which there does not seem
to be any prospect, I cannot refrain from saying thank you to
those friends who greet us with such affectionate interest. We do
appreciate it very highly. But I do not at all assume it is merely
your interest in me. It is, I am sure, your interest in the country,
in its Constitution, and in its flag — the flag for which these com-
rades fought, which they carried through the stress of battle and
brought home in honor. It is our free institutions, our free ballot,
our representative Government, that you all honor in coming here
to day. It is very surprising and very pleasant to drop down out
of these snow -clad summits and to have passed into our hands in
the valley, branches of peach and pear and bouquets of flowers, the
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 447
first fruits of spring — a spring more genial here than it seemed
at Leadville this morning. [Applause. J I am very glad to have
revealed to me the possibilities of this country, and to see how,
under the system of irrigation, that which seemed to be a waste —
accursed of God — comes to be a very garden of Eden in beauty and
productiveness. I hope you have not only the fruits and flowers
of paradise, but that you have in your homes that state of peace
and blessedness which prevailed before our first mother took the
apple. [Applause.] To these comrades I want to give a comrade's
greeting. I know of no higher honor in- this world than to be
called "comrade" by the survivors of those who saved the Union.
[Applause. J
FLORENCE, COLORADO, MAY 11.
THE next stop was at Florence, in the oil district, whose
citizens gave the President a most cordial greeting. The
Reception Committee comprised Mayor Isaac Canfield,
Senator J. A. McCandless, J. F. Collins, J. H. McDaniel,
Thomas Robinson, Thomas E. Spencer, Richard McDonald,
W. J. Daniels, and Joseph Patterson. An enthusiastic
citizen proposed three cheers " for the first President who
has thought enough of us to come and see us." They were
given with a will, and the President responded as follows :
My Fellow citizens — I am very much obliged to you for this
greeting. I expect there have been other Presidents who thought
of you, though they have not visited you. This has been a very
pleasant and instructive journey to me. I thought 1 had kept
myself reasonably well informed of the capabilities of this country
and of its productions, but I am amazed to find how things are
put together. We come out of the snow where everything is barren
and where labor is under ground, where the precious metals are
being extracted, and there is nothing pleasant in the landscape
except the snow covered mountains, and presently we are into a
land of fruit, and have handed up to us great branches laden with
well-set peach and pear, and are showered again, as we were in
California, with the flowers of the early spring, and now, to my
surprise, we seem to be in the oil region of Pennsylvania. These
numerous derricks and oil lodes remind us of things about Oil
Citv. Until I saw them 1 was not aware that von had here in
448 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
Colorado oil production. It shows us how impartial, after all, the
great Creator has been. He has given us everywhere possibilities
which, if well improved, will make comfortable, happy homes.
You have the metals, precious and common, and the coal that is
needed for the smelter ; oil to light your homes and lubricate your
machinery, and these orchards and beautiful valleys, all in the
right proximity, No man could have improved upon it. [Ap-
plause.] Our Government intends to have a careful and impartial
consideration of all its people. We do not recognize classes or
distinctions. We want everybody to be prosperous and happy,
especially the working people. [Cheers. ]
I do not know how our institutions could endure unless we so
conduct our public affairs and society that every man who is sober
and industrious shall be able to make a good, comfortable living
and lay something aside for old age or for evil days ; to have hope
in his heart and better prospects for his children. That is the
strength of American institutions. Whatever promotes that I
want to favor. Whatever tends to pauperize our people or impair
the earning power of the laboring class I do not favor. [Cheers. ]
PUEBLO, COLORADO, MAY 11.
AN artillery salute welcomed the party to Pueblo at 3 : 30
P.M. Mayor W. B. Hamilton, Col. M. H. Fitch, D.W.
Barkley, Hon. I. W. Stanton, A. McClelland, and O. H.
P. Baxter comprised the committee that escorted the Pres-
ident from Glenwood Springs. Arrived at the station the
Chief Executive was conveyed to the Court House Square
by the following Committee of Reception : E. C. Lyman,
Paul Wilson, Benjamin Guggenheim, D. L. Holden, E.
R. Chew, Fred Betts, N. O. McClees, W. A. Moses, F. E.
Baldwin, A. S. Dwight, J. R. Flickenger, R. M. Steven-
son, W. B. McKinney, John Lockin, E. C. Billings, A.
F. Ely, W. B. Palmer, J. S. Johnston, N. E. Guyot, M.
Studzinski, G. T. Nash, J. W. Purdy, P. F. Sharp, S. A.
Abbey, E. H. Martin, K S. Walpole, T. J. Cribbs, J. G.
Keller, and C. C. Games. Upton Post, G. A. R., C. J.
Long Commander, and many other organizations partici-
pated in the parade.
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 449
At the Court House Square 6,000 children greeted the
President, who was introduced by Dr. William A. Olmsted
and said :
Children of the Public Schools and Others — I am glad to meet
such an immense number here, and I can't allow this opportunity
to pass without expressing to you my thanks for this whole souled
reception. It moves rny heart to say that from your appearances
you are well taught, not only in manners but in your intellectual
pursuits ; your bright, ruddy faces show health, and as you are
living in this healthful place it speaks marvels for Pueblo, The
country need fear no attack from foreign foes when such an army
as you'll some day make would be called into action. You have
your destiny all before you, and no one can tell but that some of
these boys may be a President and these beautiful girls advise
those who are born to fill high places in the Government. Chil-
dren, I am pleased to see you, and will hold in dear remembrance
this, my first visit to Pueblo — a city full of American genius and
enterprise, which will hold its own and keep on apace with that
progress characteristic of Americans. God bless you all. [Cheers. ]
As Mrs. Harrison's carriage drew up the school children
presented her with a handsome painting — the " Colorado
Columbine." The President then visited the Colorado
Mineral Palace, where President L. S. McLain and Sec-
retary Livezey of the Exposition presented him with spec-
imens of rich ore.
Colonel Stanton made the welcoming address and intro-
duced President Harrison to the great assemblage, who
responded as follows :
Mr. Mayor and Fellow -citizens — The brief time which we are
able in this hasty journey to allot to the city of Pueblo has now
almost expired. It has given me pleasure to drive through the
streets of this prosperous and enterprising municipality and to see
that you are concentrating great business interests which must in
the future make you a very important centre in this great State.
You have in this State a variety of resources unexcelled, I think,
by any other State. Your attention was very naturally first directed
toward the precious metals, to the mining of gold and silver. The
commoner ores were neglected. Your cities were mining camps.
Nowhere in all our history has the American capacity for civil
organization been so perfectly demonstrated as in the mining camps
450 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
of the West Coming here entirely beyond the range of civil insti-
tutions, where courts, sheriffs, and police officers could not give a
hand to suppress the unruly at a time when our mining laws were
unframed, these pioneer miners of California, Colorado, Nevada,
Montana, and Idaho wrought out for themselves in their mining
camps a system of government and mining laws that have received
the approval of the State. [Cheers. ] It was quite natural that
interest should have been first directed toward the precious metals.
You are coming to realize that the baser metals, as we call them,
with which your great hills are stored are of great and more lasting
value. [Cheers. J We passed this morning through a region where
I was surprised to see orchards that reminded me of California.
Now for all these things, for the beneficent influence under which
you live, for that good law that has distributed this public domain
freely to every man who desires to make a home for himself and
family, for this free Government that extends its protection over
the humblest as well as the mighty, for all these resources of sky
and air and earth, the people of Colorado should be joyously
thankful. [Cheers.] lam glad to hail you as fellow -citizens. I
am glad for a moment to stand in the midst of you, to see your
great capabilities, and to assure you that my best wishes are with
you in the development of them all. [Cheers. ] I am glad to know
that Colorado, this young Centennial State, has established a sys-
tem of free public schools unexcelled by any State in the Union
[Cheers.] But, my friends, as I said once before, I am in slavery
to a railroad schedule, and time is up Good -by. [Cheers.]
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO, MAY 11.
THE presidential party arrived at Colorado Springs at
6 o'clock in the evening and received the heartiest kind of
a welcome. They were met at the station hy the Hon. Ira
G. Sprague, Mayor of the city, at the head of a large Com-
mittee of Reception, comprising the following prominent
citizens : Judge John Campbell, J. F. Seldomridge, J. H.
Barlow, Irving Howbert, J. W. Stillman, W. S. Jackson,
B. F. Crowell, Col. Geo. De La Vergne, Hon. W. F.
Slocum, J. A. Hayes, Jr., E. Barnett, Geo. H. Stewart,
G. S. Barnes, W. A. Conant, W. L. Weed, H. C. Mc-
Creery, E. W. Davis, D. Heron, W. B. Roby, C. H.
HA KltltiOX'S HPEFA. 7/f,',S'. 4 5 1
White, C. E. Noble, B. W. Steele, L. H. Gowdy, J. H.
B. McFerraii, D. M. Holden, W. S. Nichols, Dr. T. G.
Horn, Dr. W. A. Campbell, Thomas Hughes, J. P. Barnes,
W. A. Roby, Dr. B. P. Anderson, Judge J. B. Severy,
T. -A. McMorris, F. L. Martin, J. M. Sellers, H. H.
Stevens, J. A. Weir, Geo. W. Thorne, J. J. Hagerman,
H. C. Lowe, L. R. Ehrich, J. F. Pebbles, Charles Thur-
low, A. Van Vechten, E. S. Wooley, J. M. Ellison, C. C.
Hoyt, Dr. W. M. Strickler, Dr. J. P. Grannis, Dr. S. E.
Solly, Judge William Harrison, W. H. Reed, Geo. F.
Whitney, E. A. Colburn, W. R. Barnes, Charles W. Col-
lins, N. O. Johnson, E. W. Giddings, P. C. Helm, C. E.
Durkee, W. C. Stark, Matt Wilbur, C. E. Stubbs, H. C.
Fursman, J. H. Sinclair, L. P. Lowe, J. C. Woodbury,
W. H. Tilton, L. A. Pease, Thomas Barber, David Mc-
Shane, H. A. Fuller, W. A. .Perkins, Fred Robinson,
Geo. B Perry, Count James Pourtales, W. B. Faunce,
E. M. Stedman, M. W. Everleth, Dr. O. Gillette, A.
A. McGooney, E. J. Eaton, Matt France, Henry L. B.
Wills, H. S. Ervay, C. J. Reynolds, Frank White,
W. F. Anderson, Thomas Fairish, P. A. McCurdy, C.
B. Crowell, W. A. Otis, J. N. Bolton, H. A. Ferugson, H.
Collbran, Geo. P. Riplet, H. G. Lunt, T. H. Edsall, A. L.
Lawton, W. H. D. Merrill, K. H. Field, Dr. H. T. Cooper,
A. J. Denton, II. I. Reid, C. W. Howbert, W. II. Hoag-
land, J. W. D. Stovell, S. H. Kingsley, F. A. Mangold, Dr.
T. C. Kirkwood, Godfrey Kissell, Thomas Gough, V. Z.
Reed, II. S. Van Petten, T. S. Brigham, O. P. Hopkins, D.
C. Dudley, E. R. Stark, A. S. Holbrook, Milo Rowell,
Charles Walker, Prof. J. E. Ray, W. S. Nichols, Thomas
Shideler, Leonard Jackson, L. C. Dana, L. E. Sherman,
Samuel Bradford, William Clark, F. E. Dow, Geo. P.
Vaux, I. J Woodworth, A. A. Williams, W. D. Belden,
W. H. Goshen, D. A. Russell, C. L. Gillingham, C. E.
Aiken, Dr. G. W. Lawrence, Geo. H. Parsons, Jehu Fields,
Edward Ferris, E. F. Clark, A. Sutton, Phil Strubel, F.
452 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
A. Speny, P. K. Pattison, L. H. Gilbert, Prof. Wm.
Strieby, Theo. Harrison, F. H. Morley, E. T. Ensign, Wm.
Lennox, W. H. Mclntyre, J. E. Newton, John Hundley,
Dr. F. Hale, John Lennox, Wm. Bischoff, K J. Davis, J.
L. Clinton, J. D. O'Haire, Dr. B. St. G. Tucker, E. S.
Josleyn, Seth Baker, Joseph Dozier, O. Roberts, J. E. Ray,
J. Plumb, H. Hall, Dr. M. S. Smith, W. H. Sanford, Law-
rence Myers, S. K Nye, John Potter, C. H. Burgess, L.
G. Goodspeed, J. Sumner, E. F. Rudy, Maj. O. Remick,
E. S. Bumstead, G. C. Hemenway, John Simmons, H.
Halthusen, William Banning, Reuben Berrey, A. H. Gor-
man, F. D. Pastorious, J. L. Armit, Judson Bent, Rev.
James B. Gregg, Rev. A. R. Kieffer, Rev. R. Montague,
Rev. H. H. Bell, Rev. J. P. Lucas, Rev. M. D. Ormes, Rev.
H. E. Warner, and Rev. M. Carrington.
The G. A. R. veterans comprised the presidential guard
of honor during the parade through the city. Civic organ-
izations from Maiiitou, Colorado City, Colfax, and Koener
participated in the demonstration, which, was very fine
and received the special commendation of President Har-
rison.
After the parade the Garfield School was visited, and
the President addressed the scholars as follows :
You have very appropriately named this school in which you
have gathered a portion of the children of Colorado Springs for
instruction — Garfield. I understand another of your public schools
is named after Abraham Lincoln. That, too, is a most appropriate
designation ; for where, in all the story of our country, among its
men who have been illustrious in civil pursuits or in war, can
two names be found which furnish more inspiration and hope to
the youth of the land than the names of Lincoln and Garfield?
[Applause. ] Both men came of parentage so poor that no advantages
attended their early years, and yet each by his own indomitable
will, by the persevering improvement of the meagre opportunities
they enjoyed, reached the highest place in our land, and are to-day
embalmed in the affectionate recollection of their countrymen. I
bid you all to read the lessons of these great lives, and to ponder
them well , for while not all may achieve all they achieved, useful
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 453
and honorable position may be achieved by you all Wishing you
every prosperity and success, I bid you good-by. [Cheers.]
At night the city was brilliantly illuminated. A public
reception was held at the Hotel Antlers. The President
and his party were assisted by Governor and Mrs. Routt
and the Citizens' Committee. The welcoming ceremonies
took place before a great assemblage ; Mayor Sprague made
the address.
The President, responding, said :
Mr. Mayor and Fellow citizens — I am sure you will crown the
kindness which you have shown me to-day by permitting me to
make my response to these words of welcome exceedingly brief. I
have spoken four or five times to-day, and the chill of the evening
will not allow me to exercise my voice with the accustomed im-
munity, but I cannot refrain from saying to you how much we
have been pleased by the hasty glimpse we have been permitted to
get of this beautiful city. The fame of Colorado Springs has spread
throughout the entire East. I heard much of the beauty of its
location, the grandeur and sublimity of these mountains that stand
about bulwarked, as it is, like Jerusalem of old ; of the health-
giving atmosphere that fills this valley , of the marvellous springs,
refreshing and life giving, which break out from your mountain
sides ; of these marvellous and weird products of time that stand
in the Garden of the Gods — of all this I had heard. But, my
countrymen, no spring that ever broke from mountain side, no
bracing air that ever filled these valleys, was more refreshing and
invigorating to the invalid or to the weary than your hearty greet-
ing has been to us. [Cheers. ]
I visit your great State for the first time. When this journey has
been completed only two of the States of the Union, and only its
most distant Territory, will have escaped my personal inspection
and observation. From Maine to California, from the northern
line of Michigan, where it is washed by the waters of the Sault
Ste. Marie, to the Savannah, I have traversed this broad land of
ours, and out of all this journeying, out of all this mingling with
our people. I have come to be a prouder and, I hope, a better
American. We have a country whose diversity of climate, soil,
and production makes it, in a degree not true of other people in
the world, independent and self-contained. None of the neces-
saries of life, and few of its luxuries, would be denied to us if we
were to limit ourselves to articles of American growth and pro-
454 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
duction. [Cheers.] But better than all this, greater than our
bulk, are those things that enter into and characterize the Ameri-
can social and political life. A distinguished Englishman jour-
neying in this country not many years ago, speaking of his
observations, rather caustically mentioned that the question most
often propounded to him was whether he was not surprised by the
great size of the country. He was a man of discernment, one who
looked beneath the surface, who had learned to measure the mighty
impulses which turn the current of human civilization, and re-
buking this pride of bulk he said : Yes, it was a surprise, but
greater still to him was the surprise that over 60,000,000 people
could maintain and preserve under free republican institutions
the social order and individual liberty which was maintained here ;
greater to him than bulk was the marvel that this great people
could have survived and maintained its institutions under the ter-
rible stress of the great Civil War ; greater than all else to him
was that unification of the people which seemed to follow that period
of deadly strife. I rejoice to be with you to-night as an American
citizen. I rejoice in the glory which the Centennial State has
brought to the Union, and which will greatly increase. [Cheers. ]
DENVER, COLORADO, MAY 12.
ON his arrival at Denver, at 9:45 Tuesday morning,
President Harrison received an ovation. The tribute was
a spontaneous, hearty one, emphasized by the acclaim of
100,000 people. Governor Routt, ex-Senator Tabor, ex-
Senator Hill, and other distinguished citizens escorted the
presidential party from Glenwood Springs.
The Chief Executive was met at the Union Depot by
the Hon. Platt Rogers, Mayor of the city, and 200 promi-
nent residents, comprising the Committee of Reception,
as follows: D. H. Moffat, I. B. Porter, C. E. Taylor, Wolfe
Londoner, J. E. Leet, Professor Has well, S. H. Standart,W.
S. Cheesman, James Leonard, W. D. Todd, Adolph Zang,
Phil. Bockfinger, T. M. Patterson, C. S. Thomas, J. M.
Berkey, M. J. McNamara, C. H. Reynolds, J. D. McGil-
vray, H. N. Chittenden, J. A. Thatcher, J. S. Wolfe, Dr.
HA ItltlSOX ' S SPEEL 'HESl 455
L. E. Lemen, Edward Eddy, Dr. Stedman, E. R. Barton,
D. Sheedy, H. B. Chamberlin, George Tritch, James Rice,
Victor Elliott, E. Monash, Thomas E. Poole, W. J. Barker,
J. T. Cornforth, J. K. Mullen, E. B. Light, Fine P. Ernest,
Colonel Dodge, Donald Fletcher, W. G. Fisher, A. C. Fisk,
M. Hallett, F. A. Meredith, Charles B. Kountz, I. E. Blake,
Dr. Dennison, W. H. James, C. M. Kittredge, Joseph H.
Smith, William Stapleton, J. C. Helm, S. T. Smith, P. J.
Flynn, Isaac Brinker, Judge Rising, Frank Bishop, Su-
pervisor Anderson, J. W. Roberts, Herman Strauss, J. H.
Brown, A. B. McKinley, W. J. Barker, H. P. Steele, Lafe
Pence, George F. Batchelder, Rev. J. M. Freeman, John
Arkins, ex-Governor Grant, J. M. Lawrence, J. J. Joslin,
F. J. V. Skiff, W. S. Decker, John Corcoran, W. B. Felker,'
F. B. Hill, J. D. Best, John Riethmann, Thomas Hayden,
Anthony Sweeney, ex-Governor Cooper, Charles D. Cobb,
John Evans, William Scott Lee, Peter Magnes, Dr. Ban-
croft, E. F. Hallack, R. H. McMann, S. L. Holzman, H.
R. Wolcott, J. S. Brown, M. B. Carpenter, Joseph Cress-
well, R. W. Woodbury, E. M. Ashley, J. S. Appel, E. L.
Scholtz, Dennis Sullivan, Samuel Elbert, G. W. Clayton,
J. C. Montgomery, G. C. De Bronkart, Louis Mack, C. S.
Morey, George E. Randolph, William Barth, T. S. Mc-
Murray, J. E. Bates, C. F. Wilson, Rev. Myron W. Reed,
Dr. Graham, J. L. McNeill, W. H. Bush, G. G. Symes,
Rodney Curtis, J. W. Nesmith, O. E. Le Fevre, Judge
Furman, H. J. Adams, J. C. Twombly, Judge Graham, F.
Rinne, Supervisor Slack, Gen. W. A. Hamill, H. P. Par-
melee, General Dunn, J. H. Poole, George Raymond, J.
W. Hampton, Henri Foster, W. C. Lothrop, James H.
Blood, E. W. Merritt, Wm. Harris, General Humphrey,
Daniel Ryan, R. S. Roe, R. W. Speer, C. S. Lee, Jos. Mil-
ner, J. A. McDonald, Judge Bentley, M. Currigan, M. D.
Van Horn, Fred Walsen, Dr. H. K. Steele, Assyria Hall,
A. P. Rittenhouse, Richard Sopris, F. C. Goudy, C. H.
Hackley, Isaac K Stevens, Thomas Croke, J. P. Ewing,
45 G HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
George C. Manly, J. T. Adams, George Ady, D. W. Hart,
Judge Alvin Marsh, C. D. Titus, Supervisor Chase, Otto
Mears, H. Solomon, D. F. Carmichael, Amos Steck, E. S.
Chapman, W. B. Hanscome, R. A. Gurley, C. H. Sage,
Rev. Dr. Tupper, Henry Apple, Herbert George, W. H.
Firth, Egbert Johnson, F. E. Edbrooke, S. K. Hooper,
Thos. G. Anderson, A. D. Shepard, J. S. McGilvray, E. L.
Fox, D. C. Packard, O. Whittemore, David May, Ralph
Voorhees, Senator Cochrane, J. M. Daily, Col. C. J. Clark,
H. L. Morris, Rev. Father Malone, Dr. Blickensderfer, J.
M. Downing, C. M. Hampson, Thomas Nicholas, Judge
Miller, Jerome Riche, J. D. McGilvray, W. H. Milburn,
F. H. Kreuger, L. H. Guldman, W. N. Byers, William M.
Bliss, George H. Graham, Lewis Price, Jay Cook, Jr.,
C. S. Prowitt, S. C. Shepard, O. Carstarphen, Captain J.
T. Smith, and Hugh Butler.
The parade was an imposing and brilliant spectacle, in
charge of Chief Marshal A. H. Jones, assisted by Gen. E.
K. Stimson, Chief of Staff, and the following aides : John
C. Kennedy, Adjutant-General of Colorado ; Benjamin F.
Klee, E. J. Brooke, W. H. Conley, John A. McBeth, W.
Y. Sedam, N. G. Dunn, George Ady, Thomas R. Scott,
John Corcoran, B. A. Harbour, Thomas Baldwin, G. G.
Symes, S. A. Shepard, and Robert R. Wright. Over
1,000 G. A. R. comrades were in line, led by George W.
Cook, and several hundred Sons of Veterans, commanded
by Col. C. H. Anderson. The President's carriage, drawn
by six white horses, was escorted by Lieut. Col. A. W.
Hogle and staff. Countless thousands thronged the streets
along the route of the procession. As the column passed the
High School 10,000 scholars and children gave the Presi-
dent and Mrs. Harrison an enthusiastic greeting. A vast
assemblage awaited the President's arrival at the review-
ing stand, where he was met by the Colorado Pioneers, led
by Maj. William Wise. Governor Routt delivered an
eloquent address of welcome, followed by Mayor Rogers,
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 457
who portrayed the triumphant struggle and growth of
Denver. President Harrison responded as follows :
Governor Routt, Mr. Mayor, Pioneers of Colorado, Comrades of
the Grand Army [cheers] and Fellow -citizens — This scene is inspir-
ing. This beautiful city, the fame of which your journeying citi-
zens have not failed to carry to the far East [laughter and cheers] ,
has become known to me as we can know by the hearing of the
ear ; and I am rejoiced to add to my pleasant impressions of Colo-
rado, and of its commercial and political capital, that which is
in sight of the eye, which has but deepened and enlarged the
favorable impressions which I brought to your State. It is a mar-
vellous thing that all we see here is in a State whose existence
dates from the dawn of the second century of our national life.
What a tremendous testimony to the organizing power and energy
of the American people this great State is ! That these wastes, so
unpromising to the eye in that early time, should have been in-
vaded by the restless energy of indomitable men ; that they should
have seen in visions that which was to follow their heroic labor
for the development of these hidden resources ; that no drought or
drifting sand, no threat of mountain nor of sky, could turn back
these brave-hearted men who had set their faces to pierce and
uncover the hidden riches of these mountains. The pioneers of
Colorado are worthy of honor. Those who have entered into their
labors, who have come not toilsomely but on swift and easy wings
into the heritage that they have opened, should, always and every-
where, gratefully acknowledge the services of those who made this
easy pathway for their feet. [Cheers. ]
Your State is blessed in the diversity of its resources. You do
not depend on any one of the great industries of civilized life.
You have taken from your mines immense stores of the precious
metals, but when these are gone or their supply is diminished you
will turn your eyes toward .those metals that we call base, but that
after all enter in so many ways into human life that they supply
more enduring and in the end more profitable industries. Your
iron, and coal, and lead, and building stone will be sources of
income inexhaustible. These valleys, touched by the magical
power of irrigation, will yield to your population abundant food,
and you will yet have within yourselves that happy commercial
condition of a State producing and exchanging within its own
limits nearly all the necessaries of life. [Cheers. ] Transportation
is always a burden. The industrial condition is always best when
the producers and the consumers are near together.
458 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
I am glad to know that you have not been so busy in delving
into the earth ; that you have not so turned your minds to the
precious metal as to have forgotten that there is a blue sky above
you ; that there are aspirations, and hopes, and glories that are
greater than all material things. [Cheers. ] You have not failed
to make sure that the children, the blessed children of your homes,
that are now coming on, are made secure in the possession of a
well-ordered and of a well-endowed school system. [Cheers.]
What a testimony it is to the American character that, however
intense the push for the things of this life, however eager the
pursuit of gain, you can never assemble a community of 200 peo-
ple that they do not begin to organize schools for the children.
[Cheers.] These, common schools are not simply nurseries of
intellectual training ; they are nurseries of citizenship. [Cheers. ]
It has been a most happy sight to see the same old banner that
we bore into the smoke of battle and carried over dying comrades
to place it in triumph on the ramparts of the enemy now in the
hands of the children of Colorado. [Cheers.] Proof has been
made a thousand times — proof will be made whenever the occasion
requires— that, as much as we pursue gain and personal ends, we
have nothing — property or life— that we do not freely lay down
upon the altar of our country for the general good. [Cheers.]
But, my fellow- citizens, this assemblage is too vast, and the
demand upon my time for public speech has been too protracted,
to enable me to pursue these remarks further.
Comrades of the Grand Army of the Republic, survivors of the
great war whose success preserved all that our fathers had devised
and established, whose success brought back this flag in honor and
established it again the undisputed emblem of an indissoluble
Union [cheers], God has bountifully lengthened out your days
that you might catch some glimpse of the glory that has come
from the achievements in which you bore an honorable part. But
only the vision of the prophet reaching out over centuries to come
can catch the full glory of what your deeds have wrought. I give
you to-day a most affectionate greeting [cheers] ; I give you a
regretful good by. May you hold in the community where you
live that respect and honor to which you are entitled. Let no
Grand Army man ever dishonor in civil life the noble record he
made in war. May every blessing follow you, and if it shall not
be in God's dispensation to give you riches, at least, comrades,
you shall die with the glorious satisfaction of having contributed
to the greatest work that man ever wrought for humanity and
good ; and, wrapped in the flag you followed, your comrades will,
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 450
one by one, see that in honored graves your bodies rest until the
resurrection, and that on each returning day of decoration flowers
are strewn upon your graves.
Citizens of Denver, I cannot close without expressing the great
satisfaction and surprise with which I have witnessed this morning
the magnificent commercial developments which have been made
here. These streets, these towering, substantial, and stately houses
in which your commerce is transacted, place you in the front rank
of enterprise. I do not think any city so young can claim so high
a place. [Cheers. ] I thank you very sincerely for a demonstration
which I cannot accept as personal— all this is too great for any
man— but as a spontaneous tribute to our free institutions. I
accept this as an evidence that in all essential things we are one
people. The fuller revelation of that fact to us all has been worth
all the labor and time we have mutually expended in this long
journey. In all essential things we are one ; we divide and strive
and debate, but we are patriotic American citizens, having a love
for the Constitution and the flag that brings us all at last to sub-
mit our opinion to the lawfully expressed wish of the majority.
[Cheers.]
And now again good -by. I shall leave behind me every good
wish for your prosperity, individually as a municipality and as a
State. [Cheers. ]
After a drive over Capitol Hill the President and the
gentlemen of his party were the guests of W. H. Bush at
the Hotel Metropole. Senator Teller presided at luncheon.
Responding to a toast in honor of the President of the
United States, General Harrison said:
Gentlemen— I cannot fail to respond to such a toast. Indeed, I
should be unkind to you and to myself as well if I did not. How-
ever, I cannot speak at length in thanking you for the gracious
hospitality I have received in Denver. I can truly say my visit
has culminated in Denver. For pleasure during my stay here, for
perfection in arrangement, for cordiality, and all things which go
to make a stop pleasant, Denver has given a climax of enjoyment.
It has given me great pleasure to take note of some of the things
which have made this beautiful city here and its recent and mas-
sive developments a wonder to the civilization of to-day. I am apt
to judge the city by the home. That is with me the test, more
than the business buildings, the manufactories, etc. It gives me
great pleasure to state that in all my travels, and they have in-
460 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
eluded all the States but two, I have never seen a city with such
elegant homes as here. [Cheers.] I am sure, when you have
worked out your silver mines and the more common products,
stone and granite, you will have that which will last you for an
indefinite time, and which will also add to the beauty of your
already beautiful city. [Cheers.]
I have the pleasure of testifying to the satisfaction with which
the party has spent these few days in the Centennial State. I hope
I may have the pleasure of being with you again at some near
future time.
I say good- by, and again express our thanks for your hospitality,
which has been excelled nowhere on our journey. [Cheers.]
AKRON, COLORADO, MAY 12.
THE President made his farewell Colorado speech at
Akron at 9 o'clock at night. The Reception Committee
consisted of Hon. D. W. Irwin, R. S. Langley, and J. M.
Aitkin. Upward of 3,000 people welcomed the distin-
guished travellers. Colonel Griffith and Gen. L. C. Colby,
Commander Nebraska State Guards, joined the party at
Akron as the representatives of Governor John M. Thayer.
Commander John N. Tague, of Akron Post, G. A. R.,
introduced President Harrison, who said :
My Friends — It is very kind of you to gather here to-night as we
pass by. We have had a very pleasant trip. Our interest in your
State and our appreciation of its great resources have been very
much increased on this visit. I am glad to find — indeed, I knew
I should find — the same people here that we have in Illinois, Indi-
ana, and Ohio. Most of you come from some of those States, and
you are not new people. I have been very much pleased to notice
that here, as well as in the East, you take deep interest in schools
and in all those things that tend to elevate a community and to
set social order on a firm and secure basis. Allow me to thank
you again, and to bid you good-night, [Cheers.]
HARRISON'S SPEECHES, 461
HASTINGS, NEBRASKA, MAY 13.
HASTINGS, Nebraska's third city, was reached at 6 : 30
the morning of the 13th, and notwithstanding the early
hour fully 10,000 people were present to welcome the
President. The Reception Committee consisted of Mayor
A. L. Clarke, Hon. John M. Ragan, C. H. Dietrich, Judge
W. R. Burton, F. H. Firman, W. M. Kerr, General Dil-
worth, J. J. Buchanan, R. A. Batty, James B. Heartwell,
A. F. Powers, A. V. Cole, M. Van Fleet, Dr. Johnson, Dr.
J. E. Hilts, A. H. Brown, Dr. Cook, R. B. Wahlquist, and
C. Cameron.
J. N. Clarke delivered the address of welcome and intro-
duced President Harrison, who said :
My Felloiv- country men — There is a freshness and a beauty about
the Nebraska prairies, but I hope I will not fall in your esteem if
I say I do not like to get up early. [Shouts, "Neither do we!"]
Occasionally, in our trip, we seem to pick up an hour. When I
retired at Denver last night, at none too early an hour, I was told
that we would be at Hastings at 6 : 30. But we arrived here, it
seems to me, at 5 . 20 by the time I went to bed by last night ; but,
my friends, all these things that make labor of travel are as noth-
ing compared with the great gratification we find in such assem-
blages as this.
As we journeyed eastward we have seen the arid land where
the water ran in ditches and did not fall in showers. That system
has its advantages and its disadvantages, but I must confess that
it seems more homelike for me to get back to the land where the
showers fall and everything is fresh and green. This diversity of
natural conditions and of agricultural and mineral wealth makes
the greatness of our country. Diversity is found everywhere in
nature, and it is a happy thing. It is found in the field and crop,
but never in the people — any observing man can see that we are
one people. [Cheers. ] The people I saw in California, in Arizona,
and all along our journey, were just such people as I see here ;
indeed, they were in a strict sense the same people, because they
are Yankees, Pennsylvanians, Wisconsin men, Hoosiers, and
Buckeyes — I think the Ohio man must be here. [Several responses
of "Here we are !"]
The Westerners are the overspill of the enterprising population of
462 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
the East. They kept going a little farther west, still a little far-
ther, until at last they touched the Pacific ; and so anywhere the
traveller may go, if he will make himself known, the hands of old
neighbors will be stretched out to him. Out of all this comes the
love for the one flag, and I am glad to say that we have not passed
any little way station — even in Arizona, where a few scores had
gathered from distant ranches — but some one with an American
flag was there and American cheers for that flag. Sometimes the
incidents were almost pathetic. At one little station in Arizona,
as we drew up in the darkness, there were half a dozen ranchers
on the platform. I noticed on the lapels of two or three coats the
Grand Army button. One of them shouted, "There are but few of
us, but let us give a cheer for the old flag, boys !" [Cheers.]
I thank you most cordially for your gathering here. I do not
know whether it is prejudice or not, but anyway I always have
a very high opinion of a State whose chief production is corn.
[Laughter and applause. ]
CRETE, NEBRASKA, MAY 13.
AT Crete the President received a musical welcome.
Nedela's band rendered "America," and over 2,000 voices
joined in the chorus. It was a beautiful tribute to patri-
otism. Governor Thayer, accompanied by Lieut. Gov. T.
J. Majors, Secretary of State J. C Allen, Auditor T. H.
Behton, Treasurer J. E. Hill, Atty. Gen. Geo. H. Hastings,
Adjt. Gen. A. V. Cole, Commissioner A. R. Humphry, and
Col. H. E. Palmer, came down from Lincoln and met the
President's party at Crete. The local Reception Commit-
tee consisted of Mayor Norris, ex-Governor Dawes, S. L.
Andrews, Capt. John Sherrill, and H. M. Wells.
Governor Thayer introduced the President, who said :
My Fri&nds — It appears sometimes in the heat of political cam-
paigns that the American people do not agree upon anything ; but
after it is all over we take a broader survey of things and we find
that underneath all these divisions is the bed rock of patriotism.
In that at least we have a common purpose.
I am glad to see these children here this morning. They have
greeted me everywhere with their happy smiles, and they brighten
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 463
the way quite as much as the flowers that have been given us. It
is pleasant to know that in these pioneer countries you are estab-
lishing common schools in order that the generation which is
coming on may have a better chance than you had. I do not
know of anything better than the father and mother working and
striving that their children may have an easier and better chance
in life than they had. I am very glad to see you all this morning,
and thank you for your cordial welcome. [Cheers.]
LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, MAY 13
THE capital of Nebraska was reached at 9 o'clock in the
morning and the Lincolnites gave the President a warm
greeting. The State officials, with Mayor Weir and the
following prominent citizens, comprised the Committee of
Reception: Maj. H. C. McArthur, Charles H. Gere, E. E.
Brown, N. S Harwood, C. M. Parker, C. E. Montgomery,
S. S. Royce, A. H. Weir, J. B. Archibald, W. E. Churchill,
Alva Brown, John D. Wright, Phelps Paine, J. B. Strode,
C. H. Gould, Joseph Teeters, J. J. Imhoff, John H. McClay,
I). W. Mosely, J. H. McMurtry, Professor Bessey, and
Alva Kennard. During the march to the Capitol grounds
the President was escorted by the veterans of Farragut
Post, Martin Howe Commander, and Appomattox Post,
C W. Lyman Commander. Governor Thayerand Mayor
Weir each delivered an address welcoming the President
to Nebraska and to Lincoln.
President Harrison responded :
Governor Thai/er and Mr. Mayor — It will, I think, be entirely
impossible for me to make myself heard by this vast assemblage,
situated as you are here this morning. Our stay with you is
necessarily brief, and yet I do not want you to feel that we have
discriminated against the political capital of one of the very
greatest of the newer States. I have been so pressed with the
engagements which have been suggested to us that I have only
been able to give three-quarters of an hour to Indianapolis, my
own home. I have given you the same, and I had hoped, very
404 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
much, that this time could be extended and that I would be able
to address you with more comfort to myself and to you.
We are here as American citizens, for common hope and love ;
we are here the friends of the flag, of the Constitution, of social
order, of every school, of all that characterizes this Nation and
makes it better than any other nation in the world.
I thank you, most cordially thank you, for this magnificent
demonstration. It has but one fault, and that is it is altogether
too large to be suitably arranged with a view to public speaking.
I hope you will allow me again to thank you very sincerely for
your most cordial and magnificent welcome, and wish for you and
your State all prosperity and for the country of which we are com-
mon citizens a career of unchecked glory. [Cheers. ]
As the President was about to depart he was met by a
committee representing the Nebraska Travelling Men's
Association, consisting of President Fred A. Wilson, Sec-
retary R. M. Simons, and Capt. J. S. Agey, who presented
him with an address of welcome printed on satin in gold.
In accepting the souvenir the President said :
Convey my thanks to the travelling men, for whom I entertain
the kindest regard. I remember them in the last campaign, and
shall always be thankful for the favors extended. I noticed your
body in the parade, and have never seen a finer representation of
the fraternity. [Renewed cheering.]
ASHLAND, NEBRASKA, MAY 13.
ABOUT 2,000 people greeted the President at Ashland.
The school children were assembled at the station under
Superintendent Crabtree. Mayor J. C. Railsback, H. H.
Shedd, S. G. Bryan, Col. J. K. Clarke, R. E. Butler, C. K
Folsom, M. Newman, W. T. Spere, J. H. Snell, J. H.
Oliver, J. W. Moon, and S. B. Hall, Commander of Bob
McCookPost, G. A. R., welcomed the President, who made
a brief address, as follows :
My Friends — I am very much obliged to you for your cordial
welcome. We pause but for a moment, and it will not be possible
for me to make a speech. You are talking yourselves, and I am
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 465
sure in very high tones of patriotism, by your display of the
national colors in your own hands and in the hands of the school
children, and by this welcome to one who for the time is placed at
the head of the national Government. I have not accepted what
I have seen on this trip as personal ; it is too much for any man.
I accept it as the expression of our people for the love of our flag
and for the institutions which it symbolizes. [Cheers.]
OMAHA, NEBRASKA, MAY 13.
PRESIDENT HARRISON arrived at Omaha Wednesday
noon and was accorded a reception that in numbers and
enthusiasm was scarcely surpassed during the entire trip.
He was met at Lincoln by an escort committee consisting
of Senator Charles F. Manderson, Senator A. S. Paddock,
Hon. J. C. Cowin, ex-Gov. E. B. Furnas, Maj. D. H.
Wheeler, Judge J. M. Thurston, G. W. Willard, W. Y.
Morse, D. J. O'Donohue, B. B. Wood, Dr. G. L. Miller, C.
Hartman, Maj. T. S. Clarkson, C. J. Greene, A. J. Popple-
ton, Hon. J. E. Boyd, J. H. Millard, Thomas Swobe, A. P.
Hopkins, Max Meyer, W. F. Bechel, and T. J. Lowry.
Arrived at the station the President and his party were
met and welcomed by Mayor R. C. Gushing at the head of
the following committee of -prominent citizens : Hon. E.
S. Dundy, E. Wakely, T. J. Mahoney, Dr. J. E. Summers,
L. Berka, W. J. Broatch, Fred Metz, T. L. Kimball, G. M.
Hitchcock, J. A. Creighton, J. F. Goad, C. V. Gallagher,
Herman Kountze, W. A. Paxton, C. S. Chase, G. W. Liii-
inger, Lee Hartley, Amos Field, H. G. Burt, G. W. Hoi-
drege, J. E. Kinney, Edward Rosewater, M. V. Gannon,
W. A. L. Gibbon, Henry Pundt, J. B. Furay, J. T. Clarke,
E. A. Cudahy, J. G. Phillippi, F. P. Hanlon, B. S. Baker,
John Peters, W. H. Alexander, Brad Slaughter, W. N.
ISTason, Euclid Martin, Henry Yates, J. L. McCague, J.
A. Wakefield, C. L. Chaffee, Julius Meyer, C. E. Burmes-
ter, L. R. Rosaker, James Stephenson, J. M. Woolworth,
466 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
Charles Ogden, J. S. Webster, Col. Dudley Evans, Richard
Smith, L. D. Fowler, G. M. Nattinger, J. W. Eller, Simon
Bloom, H. H. Benson, Capt. R. S. Wilcox, S. Adamsky, J.
A. Cusadore, 0. G. Decker, Charles L. Thomas, M. J.
Feenan, Frank Moores, General Brooke and staff, and
the following city officials : C. S. Goodrich, John Rush,
Lee Helsley," W. S. Shoemaker, Silas Cobb, John Groves,
Geo. W. Tillson, P. W. Birkhauser, Geo. C. Whitlock,
Geo. L. Dennis, A. B. Howatt, Clark Gapan, J. J. Galli-
gan, Wilber S. Seavey, James Flannery, H. L. Rammac-
ciotti, James Gilbert, Thomas J. McLean, J. H. Stand-
even, Thomas Riley, Thomas Bermingham, Fred Hickstein,
Peter A. Welch, and Frank R. Morrisey.
The ladies on the Reception Committee were Mrs. Alvin
Saunders, Mrs. General Brooke, Mrs. General Wheaton,
Mrs. Judge Dundy, Mrs. Clark Woodman, Mrs. H. W.
Yates, Mrs. E. Rose water, Mrs. S. S. Caldwell, and Mrs.
Geo. M. O'Brien.
An imposing procession, conducted by Chief Marshal
C. F. Weller, assisted by Jacob Fawcett and Capt. Geo.
Porter, escorted the presidential party to the pavilion near
the Court House, from whence the President reviewed the
column, headed by the Second Regiment U. S. Infantry.
General Frederick, Col. M. V. Sheridan, Colonel Turson,
General Mulcahy, Captain Morseman, Major Potwin,
Colonel Curtis, Colonel Strong, Captain Richardson, Cap-
tain Rhodes, Captain Stickle, Major Luddington, Lieuten-
ant Jensen, Lieutenant Korty, and other members of the
Loyal Legion, awaited the Commander-iii- Chief at the pa-
vilion, around which a vast concourse assembled. Mayor
Cushing made the welcoming address.
When the demonstration subsided President Harrison
responded as follows :
Mr. May or and Fellow -citizens — I can accept without question
and with very deep gratitude these cordial words of welcome
which you have spoken on behalf of the people of this great city.
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 4"(>7
Twice before it has been my pleasure to spend a brief time in this
great commercial metropolis of the great Valley of the Missouri,
I have had opportunity, therefore, to witness the rapid develop-
ment which your city has made. I recollect it as I saw it in 1881,
and as 1 see it to-day I feel that I need to be told where I am.
[Applause and cheers.]
These magnificent structures dedicated to commerce, these mag-
nificent churches lifting their spires toward the heavens, these
many school-houses consecrated to the training of those who shall
presently stand in our places to be responsible for these our public
institutions, these great stock- yards, where the meat product of
the great meat-producing States of the Missouri Valley is prepared
for market, and, above all and crowning all, these thousands of
happy, comfortable homes which characterize and constitute your
great city are a marvel and tribute to the enterprise and power of
development of the American people, unsurpassed, I think, by any
city in the United States. [Cheers.]
As I turn my face now toward Washington, as I hasten on to
take up public duties partially laid aside during this journey, I
rejoice to receive here in Omaha that same kindly greeting with
which we were welcomed as we journeyed from Washington
through the South to the Pacific. If anything were needed to call
for a perfect surrender of all personal thought in an absolute con-
secration of public duty to the general good of all our people, I
have found it in these magnificent demonstrations. [Cheers. ] We
shall always have parties — it is characteristic of free people — we
need to have party divisions, debate, and political contention ; but
it is pleasant to observe in all this journey we have taken how
large a stock of common patriotism we find in all the people.
[Cheers. ]
You have here in Nebraska a State of magnificent capabilities.
I have seen the orange grove, and all those fruits which enrich
and characterize the State of California. I have seen Leadville,
the summit city, these mining camps upon the peaks where men
are delving into the earth to bring out the riches stored there, but
I return again to the land of the cornstalk with an affection that
I cannot describe. [Cheers. ]
I am sure these friends who have delighted us with the visions
of loveliness and prosperity will excuse me if my birth and early
training in Ohio and Indiana, leads me to the conclusion that the
States that raise corn are the greatest States in the world. [Cheers. ]
We have a surplus production in these great valleys for which
we must seek foreign markets. It is pleasant to know that 90 per
468 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
cent, or more of our agricultural productions are consumed by our
own people. I do not know how soon, it may be that we shall
cease to be dependent upon any foreign market for our farm prod-
ucts. With the rapid development which is being made in manu-
facturing pursuits, with the limitation .which the rapid occupation
of our public domain now brings to our minds as to the increase
of agriculture, it cannot be a very distant day when the farmer
shall realize the ideal condition and find a market out of his own
farm wagon for what he produces.
It has been a source of constant thought and zealous effort on
the part of the Administration at Washington to secure larger for-
eign markets for our farm products. I rejoice that in the last two
years some of those obstructions which hindered the free access of
our meat products to American markets have been removed. I
rejoice to know that we have now freer, larger access for our
meats to the markets of England and of Europe than we have had
in many years. [Applause.] I rejoice to know that this has
brought better prices to the stock-raisers of these great western
valleys. I believe, under the provision looking to reciprocal trade
in the law of the last Congress, that we shall open yet larger and
nearer markets for the products of Nebraska farmers. [Cheers. ]
So distant as you are from the Atlantic seaboard, it may have
seemed to you that your interest in the revival of our trade, in the
re establishment of an American merchant marine, was not per-
ceptible or direct.
Not long since an inquiry was made as to the origin of the
freight that was carried by one of the Brazilian steamers from the
port of New York, and it was found that twenty -five States had
made contribution to that cargo, and among those States was the
State of Nebraska. [Cheers.] And so by such methods as we can
it is our purpose to enlarge our foreign markets for the surplus
productions of our great country. And we hope — and we think
this hope fills the great West as well as the East — that when this
increased traffic and commerce is found upon the sea it shall be
carried in American bottoms. [Cheers.]
A few days ago, sailing in the harbor of San Francisco, I saw
three great deep-water ships enter the Golden Gate. One carried
the flag of Hawaii and two the British flag, and at Portland they
took the pains to tow up from the lower harbor and to deck in
bunting an American ship that wras lying in the harbor. It was a
curious sight — one they thought important to exhibit to strangers
visiting that city. Why, rny countrymen, I hope the day is not
far distant when the sight of great American ships flying the Stars
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 469
and Stripes at the fore will be familiar not only in our own ports,
but in every busy mart of commerce the world around. [Cheers.]
This Government of ours cannot do everything for everybody.
The theory of our Government is large individual liberty. It is
that we shall take out of the way all legislative obstructions to the
free and honest pursuit of all human industries : that each individ-
ual shall in his own place have the best chance possible to develop
the highest prosperity for himself and his family.
Some functions are lodged with our Government. It must pro-
vide a currency for the use of our people, for I believe the time
nets gone by when we will be content to return to the old system
of an issue of money by State banks. But I will not discuss such
questions. I only desire to say this — which is common ground
upon which we can all stand — that whatever money the Govern-
ment issues, paper or coin, must be good money. [Cheers. ]
I have an idea that every dollar we issue should be as good as
any dollar we issue, for, my countrymen, whenever we have any
money, paper or coin, the first errand that dollar does is to pay
some workingman for his daily toil. No one so much as the
laboring man and the farmer requires a full value dollar of per-
manent value the year around. [Cheers. ]
But, my countrymen, I had not intended to speak so long. I
hope I have not intruded upon any ground of division. I am talk-
ing, not as a partisan, but as an American citizen, desiring by every
method to enhance the prosperity of all our people ; to have this great
Government in all that it undertakes touch with beneficence and
equal hands the pursuits of the rich and of the poor. [Cheers.]
Nothing has been so impressive in all this journey as the magnifi-
cent spirit of patriotism which pervades our people. I have seen
enough American flags to wrap the world around. [Great applause
and cheers.]
The school children have waved it joyously to us, and many a
time in some lonesome country home on the bleak sand I have seen
a man or woman or a little boy come to the door of a cabin as we
hurried by waving the starry banner in greeting to our train. I
am sure, as your Mayor has said, that this same magnificent, patri-
otic, American spirit pervades you all here to-day.
God bless you all ; prosper you in every endeavor ; give glory
and increase to your city, and settle all its institutions upon a
secure basis of social order and obedience to the law. [Great
cheering. ]
470 HARKISOX'S SPEECHES.
At the High-Scliool Grounds.
On concluding the formal reception the President and
his party became the guests of Hon. E. Rosewater, editor
and proprietor of the Omaha Daily Bee, and after inspect-
ing the editorial rooms the President held a reception in
the rotunda of the Bee building. This was followed by a
ride over the city, escorted by the Reception Committee.
As the cortege passed the High-School grounds "20,000
children and adults gave the President a most patriotic
greeting.
Halting in front of the building, the President arose in
his carriage and said :
It gives me great pleasure to receive this cordial greeting from
the teachers and pupils of the Omaha public schools. The most
pleasant features of this journey have been the beautiful and cor-
dial receptions given us by the school children. I am pleased to
notice the magnificent system of schools you have here in Omaha
— part of a system that had its origin in New England and now
extends over this entire countiy, the mainstay of this great Gov-
ernment. A number of years ago I was standing upon the banks
of the headwaters of the Missouri River, where its waters are pure
and limpid, but after passing through the bad lands of Dakota
the waters of the mighty river become contaminated and impure,
as you see it rolling by your beautiful city. Let me hope that
none of you, my little friends, will ever become tainted by contact
with the bad lands of experience as you journey through life on to
manhood and womanhood. God bless you all; good-by.
At the conclusion of these remarks General Harrison
was apprised that a mistake had been made in halting at
the entrance, as the children were unable to either hear or
see him. Upon learning this the President immediately
alighted and made his way with some difficulty to the
platform, where he addressed the children, saying :
My Little Friends — You do not feel half as badly as I do at the
thought that I made my speech intended for you to your papas
and mammas. I have not the time to attempt to repeat it, but I
can't got away without tolling you of the affectionate interest I
HARRISOX'S SPEECHES. 471
have in all the children of this great country. Bless you — you are
the blossoms of our homes. With a good-by and another God bless
you I am off. [Great cheering.]
COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA, MAY 13.
A SHORT stop was made at Council Bluff's, where several
thousand people greeted the party. Owing to the brief
time allowed by the schedule no committees were appointed,
but the veterans of Abe Lincoln Post, G. A. R., Dr. F. S.
Thomas Commander, greeted the party. Hon. Joseph R.
Reed made a brief welcoming address.
The President, responding, said :
My Friends — It gives me great pleasure to thank you for this
cordial greeting as we cross the river. I was not anticipating a
meeting here or any call for an address. I see about me some of
my old comrades of the Grand Army of the Republic, and I want
to give them a comrade's greeting. I have seen them everywhere ;
even out on the sands of Arizona I found them gathered together,
and it has always been a pleasure to meet them. [Cheers.]
SHENANDOAH, IOWA, MAY 13.
THE town of Shenandoah was illuminated in honor of
the President's visit. The travellers were welcomed by
Mayor H. S. Nichols, Hon. Benjamin Todd, C. M. Conway,
W.H.Harrison, R.W.Morse, C. S. Keenan, Capt. C. V.
Mount, and the veterans of Burnside Post, G. A. R., com-
manded by C. P. Coleneous.
The President, responding to cheers from the large
crowd, said:
My Friends — It gives me great pleasure to see you and to receive
from you this hearty greeting. Our schedule is so close that we
can tarry only a moment with you, and therefore I can only say
thank you and good-by. [Cheers.]
472 HARRISON'S SPEECHES,
MARYVTLLE, MISSOURI, MAY 13.
IT was 11 P.M. when the train made its first stop in
Missouri, at Maryville, where an unusually large crowd
greeted the President. The welcoming committee con-
sisted of Judge Lafayette Dawson, Ira K. Alderman,
James Todd, W. C. Pierce, H. E. Robinson, and Lyman
Parcher.
When the cheering subsided President Harrison said :
My Friends — This multitude is a great surprise. I have already
spoken six or seven times to-day, and am very much fatigued, so
that I shall not attempt to speak. Indeed, my time is so close
that I can tarry but a moment. But I would be untrue to myself
if I did not acknowledge this most magnificent demonstration. I
thank you most sincerely for your kindness and bid you good-night.
HANNIBAL, MISSOURI, MAY 14.
ABOUT the earliest reception on the great journey
occurred at Hannibal, which was reached at 5 :30
the morning of the 14th. Notwithstanding the hour,
5,000 people gave the President an enthusiastic wel-
come. Secretary Rusk and Postmaster- General Wana-
maker appeared on the platform with General Harrison.
The Reception Committee comprised Capt. John E. Cat-
lett, C. P. Heywood, J. J. Kirkland, Smith Alexander,
Lewis Jackson, W. H. Dulany, Edward Price, S. J. Mil-
ler, James C. Gill, J. H. McVeigh, John T. Leighter, J.
H. Pelhem, W. F. Chamberlain, J. H. Boughton, Thomas
H. Bacon, G. O. Bishop, S. W. Philips, and W. F. Dres-
cher. The veterans of W. T. Sherman Post, G. A. R., W.
H. Davis Commander, and several hundred school children
were conspicuous in the reception.
President Harrison spoke as follows :
My Fellow -citizens — I have only time to assure you that I appre-
ciate very highly this evidence of your respect. We have ex-
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 473
tended our journey to the Pacific coast ; we have crossed the sandy
plain, where for days together the eye saw little to refresh it, where
the green of the blue grass that is so restful to the eye was want-
ing, and yet again and again at some lone station in the desert a
few children from a school and some of the enterprising people
who had pushed out there to make new homes assembled with this
old banner in their hands and gave us a hearty American welcome.
I am glad to return to this central body of States in which I was
raised ; glad to be again in the land of the buckeye, the beech, and
the maple. To these dear children I want to say one word of
thanks. They have done for us much on this journey to make it
pleasant ; their bright faces have cheered us ; I love to see them.
The care the States are taking for their education is wisely be-
stowed. God bless them all ; open to their feet pleasant ways and
qualify them better than we have been in our generation to uphold
and perpetuate these magnificent civil institutions. Thanking you
most sincerely for this kindly demonstration I bid you good by.
[Great cheers. ]
SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS, MAY 14.
At the Tomb of Lincoln.
BRIEF stops were made at Barry, Baylis, Griggsville,
and Jacksonville, but not long enough for speech-making.
Thousands of visitors from neighboring towns helped the
people of Springfield welcome the President on his arrival
at 9:15 o'clock. The Committee of Reception that met
the presidential party and escorted them through the prin-
cipal streets to the Lincoln Monument in Oak Ridge
Cemetery consisted of the Hon. Joseph W. Fifer, Governor
of Illinois ; Senator Shelby M. Cullum, Senator John M.
Palmer, ex-Governor Oglesby, Representatives Henderson
and Springer, Lieut. -Gov. L. B. Ray, Secretary of State J.
N. Pearson, Auditor of State C. W. Pavey, Treasurer of
State E. S. Wilson, Atty.-Gen. George Hunt, Adjt-Gen.
J. W. Vance, Hon. Rheuna D. Lawrence, Mayor of Spring-
field, and Hon. James C.Conkling; also, Hon. John M.
Clark and Col. E. D. Swain, of Chicago.
474 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
The procession, composed of Illinois National Guards,
veterans of the G. A. R. , Sons of Veterans, Knights of
Pythias, and the City Fire Department, was marshalled
by Gen. Jasper N. Reese, assisted by Col. J. H. Barkley.
During the exercises at the monument Mayor Lawrence
presided. Governor Fifer delivered an eloquent address
of welcome, to which the President made the following
response :
Governor Fifer and Fellow-citizens — During this extended journey,
in the course of which we have swept from the Atlantic coast to
the Golden Gate, and northward to the limits of our territory, we
have stood in many spots of interest and looked upon scenes that
were full of historical associations and of national interest and in-
spiration. The interest of this journey culminates to-day as we
stand here for a few moments about the tomb of Lincoln. As I
passed through the Southern States and noticed those great centres
of busy industry which had been builded since the war, as I saw
how the fires of furnaces had been kindled where there was once
a solitude, I could not then but think and say that it was the hand
that now lies beneath these stones that kindled and inspired all
that we beheld ; all these fires of industry were lighted at the
funeral pyre of slavery. The proclamation of Abraham Lincoln
can be read on all those mountain sides where free men are now
bending their energies to the development of States that had long
been under the paralysis of human slavery.
I come to-day to this consecrated and sacred spot with a heart
filled with emotions of gratitude that that God who wisely turned
toward our Eastern shores a body of God-fearing and liberty -loving
men to found this republic did not fail to find for us in the hour
of our extremity one who was competent to lead the hearts and
sympathies and hold up the courage of our people in the time of
our greatest national peril.
The life of Abraham Lincoln teaches more useful lessons than
any other character in American history. Washington stands re-
mote from us. We think of him as dignified and reserved, but we
think of Lincoln as one whose tender touch the children, the poor —
all classes of our people — felt at their firesides and loved. The love
of our people is drawn to him because he had such a great heart —
such a human heart. The asperities and hardships of his early life
did not dull, but broadened and enlivened, his sympathies. That
sense of justice, that love of human liberty which dominated all
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 475
his life, is another characteristic that our people will always love.
You have here in keeping a most precious trust. Toward this
spot the feet of the reverent patriots of the years to come will bend
their way. As the story of Lincoln's life is read his virtues will
mould and inspire many lives.
I have studied it and have been filled with wonder and admira-
tion. His life was an American product ; no other soil could have
produced it. The greatness of it has not yet been fully discovered
or measured. As the inner history of the times in which he lived
is written we find how his great mind turned and moved, in time
of peril and delicacy, the affairs of our country in their home and
foreign relations with that marvellous tact, with that never-failing
common-sense which characterized this man of the people. And
that impressive lesson we have here this morning. I see in the
military uniform of our country, standing as guards about this
tomb, the sons of a race that had been condemned to slavery and
was emancipated by his immortal proclamation. And what an
appropriate thing it is that these whose civil rights were curtailed
even in this State are now the trusted, affectionate guards of the
tomb in which he sleeps !
We will all again and again read the story of Lincoln's life, and
will find our hearts and minds enlarged, our loves and our chari-
ties broadened, and our devotion to the Constitution, the flag, and
the free Government which he preserved to us, intensified. And
now, my friends, most cordially do I thank you for these kind
words of welcome. I shall go from this tomb impressed with new
thoughts as to the responsibilities of those who bear the responsi-
bilities, though in less troublous times, of that great man to
whose memory my soul bows this morning. [Applause.]
At the State House.
When the President closed he was presented by Govern-
or Fifer, on behalf of the citizens of Petersburg, 111. , with
a gold-headed cane made from the Lincoln store building
at New Salem. Speeches were made by Postmaster-Gen-
eral Wanamaker and Secretary Rusk, during which the
President and Governor Fifer proceeded to the State
House, where a large crowd collected and the President
made the following address :
My Fellow -citizens— I feel that we make a very poor return to you
here for your cordial welcome, and for these extensive prepara-
476 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
tions which you have made to do us honor, but this journey has
been so long, the time consumed already so great, the demand for
my presence in Washington is such that I cannot protract the stay
here with you this morning. I beg all to believe that most heartily
and sincerely I thank you for this cordial welcome from Illinois,
for the interesting moments that we have spent about the tomb of
that man who would have made the fame of Illinois imperishable
and Springfield the Mecca for patriotic feet if no other man in the
history of the State had ever come to eminence — Abraham Lincoln.
[Cheers.] In his life you have a treasury of instruction for your
children, a spring of inspiration for your people that will be last-
ing. [Cheers. ]
DECATUR, ILLINOIS, MAY 14.
DECATUR tendered the President an enthusiastic greet-
ing. Ten thousand citizens and school children partici-
pated in the welcoming demonstrations. The Committee
of Reception consisted of Mayor Chambers, Hon. S. S. Jack,
Hon. W. C. Johns, Dr. John T. Hubbard, Dr. William A.
Barnes, W. H. Bramble, Maj. F. L. Hays, M. F. Kanan,
Mrs. W. B. Chambers, Mrs. J. M. Clokey, Mrs. W. F. Cal-
houn, and Miss Belle Burrows. Hon. J. H. Rowell, of
Bloomington, was also a member of the committee.
In response to Mayor Chambers' welcoming address
President Harrison said :
Mr. Mayor and Fellow- citizens — We have been now something
more than four weeks traversing this broad and beautiful domain
which, without regard to State lines, we call our country. We
have passed with such rapidity that our intercourse with the people
has necessarily been brief and attended by many inconveniences to
them. Everything that kind hearts could do to make the trip
pleasant to us has been done, and yet I have always felt that our
hasty call at these prosperous cities where so much pains have been
taken in decoration to do honor to us gives us opportunity to make
very inadequate returns to them. We have been shooting like a
meteor as to rapidity, but without its luminosity. [Laughter.]
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 477
It is very pleasant after seeing California, Arizona, Idaho, and
Colorado, States in which the annual rainfall is inadequate to the
annual crops, and where the dependence of the husbandman is
wholly upon irrigation, to come again in these Central States,
familiar to me from my boyhood, to see crops that the Lord
waters in every season. The land of the blue grass is the land of
my love. Nowhere can there be seen fairer landscapes, nowhere
richer farms, than here in your own great State of Illinois, a State
whose history has been full of illustrious achievements, rich in pos-
sibilities, where lived our illustrious sons; a State whose popula
tion is intelligent, contented, orderly, and liberty - loving ; a State
whose development has not yet begun to approach its possible
limits ; a State having advantages by the location, swept as it is
by two of the great waterways of the continent, advantages of
access and markets by lake and rail and river unexcelled by any
State in the Union ; a State that has not forgotten that the perma-
nence of our free institutions depends upon the intelligence of the
people, and has carefully, at the very beginning, laid a founda-
tion for a common-school system in which every man's child may
have a free education. [Cheers. ] These are not simply schools of
intelligence, but, as I have said before, they are schools of states-
manship. They tend as much as any other public institution to
make our people a Nation of loving people. Here on these benches
and on this playground the people of rich and poor mingle together,
and the pampered son gets his airs rubbed off with the vigor of
his playmates. ["That's so!" and cheers.] Our Government does
not undertake to regulate many of the affairs of civil life. The
bright blue sky of hope is above every boy's head, affording great
opportunities for advancement, and then our people are left to
themselves. Certain great duties are devolved upon the Govern-
ment— to provide revenue and finance and in every branch of
public interest to legislate in the general interests of all the people.
I thank you most heartily for this great demonstration. We leave
you with our thanks, our best wishes for your State, your city,
and especially for these dear little ones from your soliools who
come to greet us. [Applause. ]
4T8 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
TUSCOLA, ILLINOIS, MAY 14.
AT Tuscola another large assemblage greeted the travel-
lers most enthusiastically. The Committee of Reception
consisted of Mayor Patrick C. Sloan, A. W. Wallace, J. J.
Knox, Frank Pearce, Dr. S. V. Ramsey, O. H. Sloan, Hans
Heurichs, A. C. Sluss, J. W. King, P. M. Moore, D. A.
Conover, and Col. W. Taggart.
In response to a hasty but cordial welcome from Mayor
Sloan the President said :
My Fellow -citizens — It is very kind of you to assemble here in
such large numbers to extend to us a greeting as we hurry through
your beautiful State. We can tarry with you but for a moment,
for we are in true sense pilgrims. It is pleasant to look in your
faces and to read there the same kindly thoughts and the same
friendliness that seems to have covered this whole land as we have
journeyed through it. I do not like to say anything anywhere that
makes a line of division ; for I know that these assemblages are
without regard to politics, and that men of all parties have ex-
tended to us a cordial greeting. The flag, the institutions, and the
general good of our people are themes which we appreciate, are
themes which we honor, though we may approach them on differ-
ent lines. I am glad to notice as I journey through your State the
evidences of a coming harvest that I hope will be bountiful.
Wishing for you every good, I bid you good-by. [Cheers. J
CHRISMAN, ILLINOIS, MAY 14.
AT Chrisman the President met with another hearty
welcome. More than 6,000 people were present, many
coming from Paris, Danville, and other neigh boring points.
The Reception Committee consisted of J. F. Van Voor-
hees, C. E. Kenton, C. A. Smith, and Revs. Wiley and
Wilkin. Kenesaw Post, G. A. R., of Paris, 111., J. M.
Moody Commander, and a number of veterans from Ridge
Farm were present.
HARBISON'S SPEECHES. 479
Mr. Van Voorhees introduced the President, who spoke
as follows:
My Friends — I have but one message" for all these vast assemblies
of my fellow- citizens who have been greeting us for something-
more than a month at every point where we have stopped. That
message is to thank you for all these greetings and for the friend-
liness which shines in your faces. I am glad this is a Government
by the people, because they are the most capable governors that
can be found. No man can traverse this country, as I have done,
from the Potomac to the Golden Gate and from the Golden Gate to
the cities that open on Puget Sound, to the great North Sea, and
can look into the faces of these people that come from every pur-
suit, without feeling that this Government, raised upon the bulwark
of patriotism, is, by God's goodness, a perpetual institution. The
patriotism of our people, their unselfish love for the flag, the great
good -nature with which they lay aside all sharp party divisions and
come together under one banner, is very gratifying to us all. Our
trip has been attended by many incidents thai have been full of
pleasure and sometimes full of pathos.
We have never lost sight of the flag in all this journey. Some-
times out on the Great American Desert, as it used to be called,
where nothing but the sage brush gave evidence of the power of
nature to clothe the earth, from a little dug-out, where some man
had set out to make a home for himself, would float the starry
banner. [Cheers. ]
This is a great country, girded around by the Grand Army of the
Republic. I have never been out of the fellowship of that great
organization. I have never stopped on all this trip but some com-v
rade did not stretch up his hand to greet me. I have evidence
that some of you are here to-day in this great State, such a magnifi-
cent contribution to the Grand Army that they were. I am glad
to see these children, They have added grace and beauty to every
meeting which we have had in this long journey. Cherish it in
your community — this most beneficial institution — the common
school of your State.
And now, thanking your kindly welcome, and sorry that we can
tarry for only these few minutes, I bid you good by, and God bless
you. [Prolonged cheering. J
480 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
MONTEZUMA, INDIANA, MAY 14.
IT was about 3 P.M. Thursday when the train crossed
the Indiana line and arrived at Montezuma, where the
President was met by a very large and enthusiastic dele-
gation from Indianapolis, headed by Gov. Alvin P. Hovey,
Mayor Thomas L. Sullivan, Gen. Lew Wallace, ex-Gov.
Isaac P. Gray, Judge William A. Woods, ex-Senator Mc-
Donald, and Senator David Turpie. The escort from In-
dianapolis included representatives from 52 labor organiza-
tions, from each G. A. R. post in the city, and delegates
from the Hendricks, Gray, Cleveland, Columbia, Marion,
Metropolitan, and Tippecanoe clubs. The Montezuma
committee consisted of Rev. Thomas Griffith, Joseph
Burns, T. A. Welshan, J. E. Johnston, N. S. Wheeler, and
H. B. Griffith.
No meeting could have been more cordial. Hon. James
T. Johnston, of Rockville, in a few eloquent sentences wel-
comed the President and Mrs. Harrison on their home-
coming.
The greeting overcame the President for a few moments,
and he was unable to respond to the demand for a speech
at any length. He said :
My Friends — We have had a long journey, and one that has been
attended by 'a great many pleasant incidents. We have had cheers
of welcome reaching from our first stop, at Roanoke, Va. , stretch-
ing across the mountains of Tennessee and Northern Georgia and
Alabama, down through Arkansas and Texas, and along the Pa-
cific coast. Everywhere we have had the most cordial and kindly
greeting ; but as I cross to-day the border line of Indiana and meet
again these old friends I find in your welcome a sweetness that
exceeds it all.
At this point tears came to the President's eyes, and his
utterance became so choked he could say no more.
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 481
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, MAY 14.
PROMPTLY on schedule time, at 4 : 45, the presidential
train arrived at Indianapolis. Its approach was heralded
by an artillery salute. The stay in the city was limited
to forty-five minutes. The Escort and Reception Com-
mittee— in addition to the distinguished officials men-
tioned at Montezuma — consisted in part of the following
prominent citizens: Hon. R. B. 5\ Peirce, Hon. C. W.
Fairbanks, Rev. M. L. Haines, Daniel Stewart, Col. Eli
Lilly, George L. Knox, George G. Tanner, President of
the Board of Trade; W. D. Wiles, John W. Murphy,
George E. Townley, Silas T. Bowen, W. B. Holton, John
M. Shaw, Albert Gall, I. S. Gordon, John P. Frenzel,
D. A. Richardson, W. F. C. Golt, Arthur Gillet, John
H. Holliday, Dr. Henry Jameson, Robert Kipp, Thomas
C. Moore, V. K. Hendricks, Charles E. Hall, Nathan
Morris, E. E. Perry, Smiley N. Chambers, G. B. Thomp-
son, Franklin Landers, and R. K. Syfers.
The preparations for the President's reception were upon
an extensive scale ; the business houses were covered with
bunting, and pictures of the distinguished traveller were
seen everywhere. Fully 50,000 people participated in the
welcome home. A speakers' stand was erected in Jackson
Place. The parade was a most successful feature of the
demonstration; thousands of veterans, sons of veterans,
and other citizens were in line. Gen. Fred Knefler was
Marshal of the day, aided by the following staff : Major
Holstein, George W. Spahr, J. Hauch, John V. Parker,
J. B. Hey wood, W. O. Patterson, Samuel Laing, J. A.
Wildman, H. C. Adams, A. W. Hendricks, John W.
Keeling, Charles Martindale, W. H. Tucker, J. M. Paver,
H. C. Cale, Josh Zimmerman, T. S. Rollins, E. S. Kise,
O. P. Ensley, Frank Sherfey, and Berry Robinson.
Cheer after cheer went up from the vast concourse as
482 HARBISON'S SPEECHES.
the President made his way to the stand, accompanied by
Secretary Rusk, Postmaster- General Wanamaker, and the
Escort Committee. It was a genuine Hoosier welcome.
Governor Hovey made a brief but feeling address, welcom-
ing the President's return with "pride and pleasure."
Mayor Sullivan followed the Governor in a warm greeting
on behalf of the citizens of Indianapolis.
President Harrison was visibly affected at the manifes-
tations of love and esteem, and during the speech-making
clearly betrayed the emotion he felt at the cordiality of
his welcome. He spoke as follows :
Governor Hovey, Mayor Sullivan and Friends— I do not think I
can speak much to-day The strain of this long journey, the fre-
quent calls that have been made upon me to speak to my fellow
citizens from Washington to the Golden Gate, from the Golden
Gate to the Straits of Fuca, and from the most northwestern por-
tion of our territory here to my own home, has left me somewhat
exhausted in body and in mind, and has made my heart so open
to these impressions, as I greet my old home friends, that I cannot,
I fear, command myself sufficiently to speak to you at any length.
Our path has been attended by the plaudits of multitudes ; our way
has been strewn with flowers ; we have journeyed through the
orchards of California, laden with its golden fruit; we have
climbed to the summit of great mountains and have seen those
rich mines from which the precious metals are extracted ; %we have
dropped again suddenly into fruitful valleys, and our pathway has
been made glad by the cheerful and friendly acclaim of our Ameri-
can fellow-citizens without regard to any party division [applause] ;
but I beg to assure you that all the sweetness of the flowers that
have been showered upon us, that all the beauty of these almost
tropical landscapes upon which we have looked, that all the rich-
ness of these precious mines sink into forgetfulness as I receive to
day this welcome from my old friends. [Great applause. ] My
manhood has known no other home but this. It was the scene of
my early struggles ; it has been the scene, and you have been the
instruments and supporters in every success I have achieved in
life. I come to lay before you to-day my thankful offering for
your friendly helpfulness that was extended to me as a boy and
that has been mine in all the years of our intercourse that have
intervened until this hour. [Applause.] I left you a little more
than two years ago to take up the work of the most responsible
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 48;}
office in the world. I went to these untried duties sustained by
your helpful friendliness. I come to you again after these two
years of public office to confess many errors, but to say to you that
I have had but one thought in my mind. It was to use whatever
influence had been confided to me for the general good of all our
people. [Applause. ] Our stay to-day is so brief that I must deny
myself the pleasure I would have in taking these old friends by
the hand God bless you all. I have not forgotten, I can never
forget, Indianapolis. [Prolonged applause. ] I look forward to it,
if my life shall be spared, as the city in which I shall rest when
the hard work of life is done. I rejoice in its increase, in its
development as a commercial centre. I love its homes, its people ;
and now if you will pardon me the effort of further speech and
believe me when I say this is a most interesting and tender mo-
ment to me, allow me to say to you for a time, God bless you
every one and good- by. [Great cheering.]
RICHMOND, INDIANA, MAY 14.
AT Richmond, Ind., a very large and enthusiastic as-
semblage cheered the President. The Reception Commit-
tee consisted of Mayor Perry J. Freeman, Hon. Henry U.
Johnson, C. C. Binkley, John Harrington, Everett A.
Richey, Andrew F. Scott, J. H. Macke, John H. Nichol-
son, Col. John F. Miller, Capt. J. Lee Yaryan, Dr. J. R.
Weist, E. D. Palmer, H. C. Starr, Frank J. Brown, J. B.
Howes, and Isaac Jenkins.
Congressman Johnson introduced the President, who
said:
My Fellow -citizens — We are now about completing a very long
journey. For something more than four weeks we have been
speeding across the country, from the Potomac to the Golden Gate,
and northward along Puget Sound. The trip, while it has been
full of pleasurable incidents, while it has been attended with
every demonstration of friendliness and respect, has, as you can
well understand, been full of labor. I began this day — and it is
only a sample of many — at 5 o'clock this morning, by speaking to
my fellow-citizens at Hannibal, Mo., and from that place to this
I have been almost continuously on my feet or shaking hands over
484 HARRISONS SPEECHES.
this platform with friends who had gathered there. We have seen
regions that were new to me, people that were strangers, and yet,
throughout the whole of this journey we have been pervaded, sur-
rounded, inspired by the magnificent spirit of American patriot-
ism. [Cheers. ] I come now to pass through my own State. I
have so often within the last two years been at Indianapolis and
passed through Richmond that I did not expect you would take
any special notice of our passage to-night. I am all the more grati
fied that you should have surprised us by this magnificent demonstra-
tion. As I had occasion to say at Indianapolis, the respect, the
confidence, the affectionate interest of my Indiana friends is more
valuable to me than anything else in life. I went from you two
years ago to new duties, borne down with a sense of the great
responsibility that was upon me, and I am glad to believe from
\vhat I see to-night that I have at least saved the respect and
friendship of my Indiana fellow -citizens. [Cries of "That's so!"
and cheers. ] And now, as I return again to labors and duties that
are awaiting me, I leave with you my most affectionate greeting
and sincere desire for the prosperity of Indiana and all its citizens.
I hope that my life will be spared to be once more a dweller in
this great State. [Cheers.]
DAYTON, OHIO, MAY 14.
A GREAT assembly, numbering over 10,000 people,
greeted the President on arrival at Dayton, Ohio, at 9
o'clock. The veterans of " The Old Guard Post, Parker
Rusby Commander, were present in a body; also many
veterans from Dister Post, Hiram Strong Post, Birch, and
Martin De Lancy posts, together with a large representa-
tion of the Sons of Veterans. Among the prominent citi-
zens and ladies who received the presidential party were
Mrs. W. D. Bickham, Miss Rebecca Strickel, Charles and
Daniel Bickham, Hon. Ira Crawford, Hon. Washington
Silzel, Wm. P. Callahan, Fred G. Withoft, Dr. J. M.
Weaver, E. B. Lyon, Dr. J. S. Beck, C. M. Hassler, A. L.
Bauman, Dr. Joseph E. Lowes, B. T. Guion, Henry Kis-
singer, Hon. Dennis Dwyer, E. F. Pryor, Charles P. Gar-
man, D. K, Hassler, Charles Auderton, N. D. Bates, John
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 485
A. Miller, John A. Bell, C. V. Osborn, Joseph S. Crane,
Ed. Best, Daniel E. Meade, Samuel Craighead, Warren
Hunger, H. C. Harries, G. C. Kenned}r, William Craig-
head, A. A. Simonds, S. Brenner, D. F. Giddinger, Si-
mon Gebhart, George La Rue, D. E. McSherry, Charles
James John Patterson, Dr. J. A. Walters, and Rev. Dr.
A. A. Willett.
The President's appearance was the signal for a pro-
longed outburst of patriotic feeling, in recognition and
response to which he spoke as follows :
My Fellow -citizens — We have journeyed now about nine thousand
miles, and I have never been, in all this distance, out of sight of
an Ohio man. [Laughter and cheers.] Everywhere we have
journeyed, whether in the New South, awakening under the new
influences of freedom to an industrial life that was not possible
under slavery ; whether on the deserts of Arizona or among the
orange groves of California, or in one of those wonderful States
that have been builded within the last few years on Puget Sound,
some one, noting the fact that I was Ohio-born, would claim kin-
ship, and so far as I could judge, in my limited observation of
them, I think they carried the Ohio faculty with them to their
new homes of getting their fair bhare of things. [Laughter and
cheers. ] I do most cordially thank you, citizens of Dayton, for
this pleasant and friendly demonstration. I cannot talk long.
This whole journey has been a succession of speeches. I have
come to think it must be tiresome to you to have one of my
speeches every morning with your breakfast coffee. [Cries of
"No! no!" and applause.] But it has been a most cheerful thing
to me to observe everywhere, even in those distant and sparsely
settled regions of the West, that the American flag was never out
of sight. I do not think I have ever lost sight of the Stars and
Stripes since we left Washington. [Cheers.] Several times we
have been deeply touched as we moved along over the sandy plains
to see at some isolated and very humble cabin a man or child step
to the door and unfurl the Starry Banner. [Cheers. ] Everywhere
I have met comrades of the Grand Army of the Republic, every-
where the atmosphere seemed to be pervaded by a magnificent
spirit of Americanism. [Cheers. ] We are one people — one in our
purposes, aims and lives ; one in our fealty to the flag, the Consti-
tution, and the indissoluble Union of the States. [Cheers.]
486 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
Ohio has always maintained a magnificently conspicuous place
in the sisterhood of the States — peopled, as she was, by the great
patriots of the Revclutionay period ; receiving, as she did, in this
great basin, that overspill of patriotism that moved toward the West
after the Revolutionary struggle was ended. She has given to the
Government, in army life and in the civil service, a magnificent
galaxy of great men. [Cheers. ] In the hope that this journey,
which has been full of toil, may not prove unprofitable to the
people, as it certainly has not been unprofitable to me, I leave you
to take up my public duties with new encouragement and new re-
solves to do the best I can for all the people. [Cheers.]
XENIA, OHIO, MAY 14.
IT was nearly 10 o'clock when the city of Xenia was
reached, but a large crowd greeted the tired travellers.
A reception committee, consisting of Hon. Charles F.
Howard, Mayor; Hon. John Little, Hon. N. A. Fulton,
Hon. George Good, Charles L. Spencer, and F. E. James
escorted the party from Dayton.
Judge Little introduced President Harrison, who said :
My Friends — I began my day's work at 5 o'clock and have
already made ten speeches, but I feel that a few spoken words are
but small return to those Avho have gathered to express their
friendly regard. No man is worthy to hold office in this Republic
who does not sincerely covet the good-will and respect of the
people. The people may not agree in their views on public ques-
tions, but while they have a great many points of difference they
have more of agreement, and I believe we are all pursuing the
same great end — the glory of our country, the permanency of our
institutions, and the general good of our people. The springs of
all good government — the most important things after all — are in
the local communities. In the townships, school districts, and
municipalities, there the utmost care should be taken. If their
affairs are wisely and economically administered, those of the State
and the Nation are sure to be. Upon these foundation stones the
safety of the Nation rests, and I am glad to know that so much
careful thought is being given to these questions by public men
and the people generally. Thanking you for your attendance and
cordial greeting, I bid you good -night. [Cheers.]
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 487
COLUMBUS, OHIO, MAY 14.
IT lacked but fifteen minutes of midnight when the
train rolled into the Union Depot at Columbus. Notwith-
standing the lateness of the hour a fair-sized and enthusias-
tic crowd was present, including a number of G. A. R.
veterans.
In response to repeated calls the President appeared,
accompanied by Secretary Rusk, and said :
My Fellow -citizens — I left Hannibal, Mo., this morning at 6
o'clock, and have made twelve speeches to day You have been
very thoughtful to meet us here, and I know you will excuse me
if I say nothing more than I thank you. Good-night. [Applause. ]
ALTOONA, PENNSYLVANIA, MAY 15.
THE last day of the long journey began with a speech at
Altoona at 10 o'clock. Superintendent an£ Mrs. Theodore
N. Eby joined the party here. The assemblage was a large
one and the President shook hands with many until the
crowd began calling for a speech.
Postmaster-General Wanamaker introduced the distin-
guished traveller, saying: "Outside of Indiana I think
the President could not be more at home than he is in
Pennsylvania, and he requires no introduction."
The President spoke as follows :
My Friends — The book has been closed. I have been talking so
much while on this trip that I am sure you will excuse me this
morning. It has been a delightful journey, yet we experienced,
perhaps, that which is the crowning joy of all trips— getting back
home ; that is the place for us. [Cheers. ] I am glad to have this
greeting from my Pennsylvania friends this morning. Mr. Wana-
maker was not far wrong when he said that after Indiana Pennsyl-
vania was pretty close to me. It was in one of these valleys, not
very distant from your political Capitol, that my mother was born
and reared, and of course this State and this section of Pennsvl-
488 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
rania has always had a very dear interest for me. [Cheers and
great noise from steam being blown off at shops. ] Of the applause
that we have enjoyed on this journey our reception here has been
the most original of all. [Prolonged cheering. ]
HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, MAY 15.
THE arrival at Harrisburg at 1 :15 P.M. was heralded
by a presidential salute, and 10,000 cheers went up as the
President emerged on the rear platform, accompanied by
Secretary Rusk and Postmaster-General Wanamaker.
Among the prominent citizens who pressed forward to
greet the travellers was his excellency Governor Pattison,
Speaker Thompson, of the House of Representatives, Sec-
retary of the Commonwealth Harrity, Adjutant-General
McClelland, Hon. B. F. Meyers, Private Secretary Tate,
and many members of the Legislature. The Governor's
Troop, commanded by Lieutenant Ott, presented arms and
Bugler Bierbower sounded the President's march as the
Chief Magistrate appeared. Governor Pattison cordially
welcomed the President and presented him to the great
assemblage.
President Harrison closed his long series of brilliant and
interesting addresses in the following words :
Governor Pattison and Fellow citizens — I thank you for the cour-
tesy of this reception at the political centre of the great State of
Pennsylvania. I was informed, a little while ago, by the stenog-
rapher who had accompanied me on this trip, that I had made 138
speeches, and when I saw the magnitude of my offence against the
American people I was in hopes I should be permitted to pass
through Harrisburg without adding anything to it. I will only
express my thanks and appreciation. No one needs to tell you
anything about Pennsylvania or its resources ; indeed, my work
was very much lightened on this journey, because I found that all
the people clear out to Puget Sound had already found out more
about their country than I could possibly tell them. [Cheers.]
It is a pleasant thing that we appreciate our surroundings We
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 480
love our own home, our own neighborhood, our own State. It
would be a sad thing if it were not so. There is only just enough
discontent to keep our people moving a little. Now and then some
boy gets restless in the homestead and pushes out to the West ; the
result is a thorough mingling of the people. I do not know what
would have become of Pennsylvania if some people from other
States had not come in and some of your people gone out. It is
this that makes the perfect unity of our country. It was delight-
ful on our trip to meet old faces from home. Though they had
apparently been discontented with Indiana and left it, they were
willing to recall the fact, as I came near to them, that they were
Hoosiers. It was very pleasant, also, to see people as they met the
Postmaster- General put up their hands and say, "I am from the
old Keystone State. " General Rusk was never out of sight of a
Wisconsin man, and of course the Ohio man was always there.
[Laughter and applause. ] Our journey has been accompanied with
the labor of travel, but out of it all I think I have a higher sense
of the perfect unity of our people and of their enduring, all-per-
vading patriotism. [Cheers. J
THE RETURN TO WASHINGTON.
THERE was no demonstration at Baltimore. As the
train neared Washington — on the homestretch of its great
run of 9,232 miles — the President gathered all the mem-
bers of his party about him in the observation car, includ-
ing the train employees and servants, and made a short
speech, in which he thanked all who accompanied him for
their courtesy and attention. He referred to the long
journey — without accident of any kind and without a
minute's variance from the prearranged schedule — as a
most remarakble achievement, and paid a high compli-
ment to Mr. George W. Boyd, the General Assistant Pas-
senger Agent of the Pennslyvania Railroad for his suc-
cessful management of the trip, adding that it was a su-
perb exhibition of what energy and training could do for
490 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
a man. He then returned his thanks individually to the
engineer, conductor, and every employee.
The train reached Washington at 5 :30 o'clock, exactly
on time to a fraction of a minute. General Harrison was
the first to alight to meet his young grandson, Master
Benjamin McKee, and the latter 's little sister. There was
no unusual demonstration or speech-making. The Presi-
dent was met by Secretaries Foster and Proctor, Attorney-
General Miller, Ass't Atty.-Gen. James 1ST. Tyner, Assist-
ant Secretary Nettleton, Assistant Secretary Willetts,
Major Pruden, and Captain Dinsmore.
PHILADELPHIA, MAY 30.
ON Decoration Day, 1891, President Harrison, accom-
panied by Postmaster-General Wanamaker, Secretary
Proctor, Secretary Tracy, and Private Secretary Halford,
visited Philadelphia as the guests of George G. Meade
Post, No. 1, G.A.R., to participate in their memorial cere-
monies. They were met at the station by a committee
from the post, comprising the following veterans : Post
Commander Louis P. Langer, Senior Vice-Commander
Alexander M. Appel, Junior Vice-Commander James
Thompson, Adjutant A. C. Johnston, Officer of the Day
Robert M. Green, Guard Charles Harris, Chaplain Rev.
I. Newton Ritner, and Past Post Commanders Henry H.
Bingham, Joseph R. C. Ward, George W. Devinny, L. D.
C. Tyler, Alfred J. Sellers, William J. Simpson, James C.
Wray, John A. Stevenson, Alexander Reed, Lewis W.
Moore, John W. Wiedersheim, Isaiah Price, W. Wayne
Vogdes, G. Harry Davis, Charles L. Sherman, Henry C.
Harper, Penn Righter, and Isaac R. Oakford. Depart-
ment Commander George Boyer and Asst. Adjt.-Gen.
Samuel Town were also present to welcome the Comman-
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 491
der-in-Chief. The historic City Troop of cavalry — who,
from the day that General Washington entered Philadel-
phia to take his second inaugural oath, have acted as an
escort to every President who has been a guest of the city —
escorted the President and the committee to Independence
Hall, where in a brief speech Mayor Stuart, in behalf of
the city, welcomed the Chief Magistrate.
The President, replying to the address of welcome, said :
Mr. Mayor, Comrades of the Grand Army of the Republic, and Fel-
low-citizens— I esteem it a great pleasure to stand in this historic
edifice in this historic city and to take part to-day as a comrade of
the Grand Army of the Republic in these most interesting and
instructive exercises, which commemorate events which have been
most deeply sunk in our hearts. I think it eminently appropriate
that we should stand for a little time before going to the graves of
our fallen comrades in this edifice, where the foundations of inde-
pendence were laid and put into development to make this great
Nation to day. In my recent extensive trip through the country I
was able to see the effects of planting these seeds of freedom, in the
flourishing plants that have grown [Applause. ]
We are here in a community that was instituted on principles of
peace and good will among men. But you gave a conspicuous
illustration of the facts that the fruits of peace need to be protected.
You did not all depart from the great lessons taught when you
united witli the comrades from all the other States to hold up the
banner of the Union and to maintain peace and to perpetuate it at
all times. You went out to maintain peace, and you have es-
tablished in the affections of all of us the flag of our faith, and the
question of submission to the Constitution and the law in all States
has been settled to the contentment of all.
I appreciate most highly this welcome, and I take part in these
exercises with a sense of their fitness and a sense of the greatness
of the event which they commemorate.
I have never been able to think that this day is one for mourn-
ing, but think that instead of the flag being at half mast it should
be at the peak. I feel that the comrades whose graves we honor
to-day would rejoice if they could see where their valor has placed
us. I feel that the glory of their dying and the glory of their
achievement covers all grief and has put them on an imperishable
roll of honor.
492 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
At General Meade's Grave.
At the conclusion of the public reception at Independence
Hall the President and his party were escorted to Laurel
Hill Cemetery, where they took part in the ceremonies over
the grave of Gen. George G.Meade, the hero of Gettysburg.
Along the entire line of march to the stand were im-
mense crowds, who greeted the President with silent
demonstrations of respect.
The usual Memorial Day exercises were held, and at their
conclusion Commander Langer said : " I wish to intro-
duce to you the honored guest of the day, Comrade Har-
rison, the Chief Magistrate of the Nation."
As the President stepped forward he was heartily
cheered. He said :
Commander, Comrades of the Grand Army of the Republic, and
Fellow -citizens — I have neither the strength nor the voice adequate
to any extended speech to-day. I come to you as a comrade to
take part in the interesting exercises of this Memorial Day. It
gives me special pleasure to combine with that tribute which I have
usually been able to pay since this day was instituted to the dead
of all our armies a special mark of respect to that great soldier who
won Gettysburg. It is impossible to separate some impressions of
sorrow from these exercises, for they bring to memory comrades
who have gone from us. How vividly there comes to my memory
many battle scenes ; not the impetuous rush of conflict, but the
hour of sadness that followed victory. Then it was our sad duty
to gather from the field the bodies of those who had given the last
pledge of loyalty.
There is open to my vision more than one yawning trench in
which we laid the dead of the old brigade. We laid them, elbow
touching elbow, in the order in which they had stood in the line
of battle. We left them in the hasty sepulchre and marched on.
Now we rejoice that a grateful Government has gathered together
the scattered dust of all these comrades and placed them in beauti -
ful and safe places of honor and repose. I cannot but feel that if
they could speak to us to-day they would say put the flag at the top
of the mast.
I have recently returned from an extended tour of the States, and
nothing so impressed and refreshed me as the universal display of
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 493
this banner of beauty and glory. It waved over every school -house,
it was in the hands of the school children. As we sped across the
sandy wastes at some solitary house a man, a woman, a child would
come to the door and wave it in loyal greeting. Two years ago I
saw a sight that has ever been present in my memory. As we
were going out of the harbor of Newport about midnight on a dark
night some of the officers of the torpedo station had prepared for
us a beautiful surprise. The flag at the top of the station was un-
seen in the darkness of the night, when suddenly electric search-
lights were turned on it, bathing it in a flood of light.
All below the flag was hidden, and it seemed to have no touch
with earth, but to hang from the battlements of heaven. It was
as if Heaven was approving the human liberty and human equality
typified by that flag.
Let us take 011 this occasion a new draught of courage, make
new vows of consecration, for, my countrymen, it was not because
it was inconvenient that the rebel States should go, not that it
spoiled the autonomy of the 'country, but because it wras unlawful
that all this sacrifice had to be made, to bring them back to
their allegiance. Let us not forget that as good citizens and good
patriots it is our duty always to obey the law and to give it our
loyal support and insist that every one else shall do so. There is
no more mischievous suggestion made than that the soldiers of the
Union Army desire to lay any yoke on those who fought against
us other than the yoke of the law. We cannot ask less than that
in all relations they shall obey the law, and that they shall yield
to every other man his full rights under the law.
I thank you for the pleasure of participating in these exercises
with you to-day, and give you a comrade's best wishes and a com-
rade's good -by.
THE BENNINGTON TRIP. AUGUST, 1891.
ON Tuesday, August 18, President Harrison left Cape
May Point on a journey to Bennington, to participate in
the dedication of Bennington Battle Monument. He was
accompanied by Private Secretary Halford, Russell B.
Harrison, Mr. Howard Gale, of Indianapolis, and George
W . Boyd, of the Pennsylvania Company. The trip through
New Jerse}r was uneventful. At Vineland, Glassboro,
494 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
Camden, Trenton, and Burlington crowds greeted the
President, but as it was raining there was no speech-
making. At Jersey City the party was joined by John
A. Sleicher, W. J. Arkell, and E. F. Tibbott, the Presi-
dent's stenographer.
Leaving New York at noon the first stop was at Corn-
wall, where the President was heartily welcomed by a large
crowd and bowed his acknowledgments.
NEWBURGH, NEW YORK, AUGUST 18.
THE weather cleared as the party reached historic New-
burgh, where 3,000 people gave the Chief Executive a
rousing welcome. Hon. M. Doyle, Mayor of Newburgh,
and the following representative citizens received the Pres-
ident: Ex-Mayor B. B. Odell, Hon. A. S. Cassedy, Hon.
B. B. Odell, Jr., William G. Taggart, Daniel S. Waring,
William Chambers, Charles H. Hasbrouck, J. M. Dickey,
Henry B. Lawson, James G. Graham, Thomas R. Spier,
A. E. Layman, George Hasting, Maj. E. C. Boynton, A.
Woolsey, John F. Tucker, William Lynn, George Brown,
Dr. D. L. Kidd, H. C. Smith, Augustus Denniston, E. M.
Murtfeldt, and John J. Nutt.
Colonel Sleicher introduced President Harrison, who
said:
My Fellow-citizens — I am very much obliged to you for this
friendly greeting. It is pleasant to run out of the rain and mist
that have hung about our train for an hour or two into this bright
sunshine and into the gladness of the pleasant welcome which you
have extended to us. You are situated here in a region full of
historic interest. Every child learns early here the story of the
sacrifice and courage of those who laid the foundation of this Gov-
ernment, which has grown beyond the conception of even the
wisest of our fathers. I am sure that in these things you must all
find inspiration to good citizenship, and it is pleasant to know
that you rejoice that it has left its impress upon the hearts of ail
HARRISONS SPEECHES. 495
our people ; that upon the Sacramento as well as upon the Hudson
men love the old memories and the old flag. [Applause. ]
I am glad to pause with you a moment in passing to the observ-
ance in Vermont of one of those great battle events which led to
the independence of our country. We have great common interests
as a people, and, while we divide as to the method by which we
would promote the national prosperity, I am sure we are all de-
voted in heart to the country and the institutions that have done
so much for us. In the interest of good government we are one ;
we all believe that the Government should be so administered that
all the people shall share equally in its benefits ; that there shall be
no favored class. I thank you again, and bid you good-by. [Ap-
plause. ]
KINGSTON, NEW YORK, AUGUST 18.
AT Kingston fully 2,000 people were assembled. Prom-
inent among those who welcomed the President were Hon.
James G. Linsley, Hon. Geo. M. Brink, H. W. Baldwin,
William D. Brinnier, D. C. Overbaugh, S. B. Sharpe,
B. J. Winnie, Charles B. Safford, George B. Merritt, O.
P. Carpenter, James E. Phinney, and Noah Wolven.
After shaking hands for several minutes, Hon. William
H. Turner introduced President Harrison, who said :
My Fellow -citizens — Perhaps I had better spend the moment or
two that remains in saying a w^ord to all of you than in shaking
hands with the few that can gather about the car. You ask for a
speech. It is not very easy to know what one can talk about on
such an occasion as this. Those topics that are most familiar to
me, because I am brought in daily contact with them, namely,
public affairs, are in some measure prohibited to me, and I must
speak therefore only of those things upon which we agree ; for I
have no doubt, if we were closely interrogated, some differences
would develop in the views of those assembled here. That is one
of the things we are proud of and that tend to the perpetuity and
purity of our institutions — that we are permitted to differ in our
views, to be independent in our opinions, and to be answerable to
our consciences and to God only for the convictions we entertain.
I am sure, however, we all rejoice in the evidences of prosperity
400 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
which are spread over this good land of ours. We rejoice in the
freedom and happiness and contentment that are in our communi-
ties and in our homes. We rejoice to know that no cloud is over
our horizon ; that we are at peace with the world and at peace
among ourselves. I think the world has come to understand that
it is well to be at peace with us [applause] , and I am sure we have
come to understand that it is very well to be at peace among our
selves. [Applause. ]
Our siutation is one of great favor. WTe are pretty widely sepa-
rated from those who would hurt us, if there are any such. We
are secure in our great isolation, and we are secure, too, in our
great and patriotic people. [Applause.] We do not maintain
armies ; we do not need to extend the conscription list until it
takes old age and youth. We maintain only the merest skeleton
of an army, but we have already seen how speedily it may develop
into gigantic proportions, and how, in a few months, it may take
on the discipline that makes it the equal of any of the great armies
of the world. [Applause.] We have this year a season of unusual
productiveness. The orchards are laden with fruit, the gardens
yield their abundant supplies to the table, and the fields have pro-
duced crops that are too great for our storehouses.
God has greatly blessed us, and it happens that this season of our
abundance is not only good for us, but for the world ; for again,
as many times before, the nations of Europe, by reason of crop
failures, must look to us to feed their people. We have a great
surplus and an assorted market for it. Our riches must be greatly
increased as the result of two magnificent harvests. Their good
effects will be felt in every home, " contentment upon the farm, and
well paid labor in all our cities and centres of manufacture Thus
it should be. Thus, I am sure, we all rejoice that it is, because
these institutions of ours can have no danger except in a discon-
tented citizenship. As long as men have a free and equal chance,
as long as the labor of their hands may bring the needed supplies
into the household, as long as there are open avenues of hope and
advancement to the children they love, men are contented — they
are good, loyal, American citizens. [Applause.] And now 1
thank you again for your kindness. [Cheers.]
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 497
ALBANY, NEW YORK, AUGUST 18.
IT was 6 o'clock in the afternoon when the President
arrived at Albany, during a heavy rain. In anticipation
of this visit from the head of the Nation, the following tele-
graphic correspondence had passed between the courteous
Governor of New York and President Harrison :
ALBANY, August 12.
HON. BENJAMIN HARRISON, Cape May, N. J. :
I learn for the first time to-day that you have accepted the invi
tation of Mayor Manning to stop at Albany on your way to Ver-
mont. If the plan of your journey will enable you to pass a night
in Albany, as I hope it may, I shall be pleased to have yourself
and party become my guests at the Executive Mansion. Person-
ally, as well as officially, I assure you it gives me great pleasure
to extend this invitation, and I sincerely trust that you will so
arrange your plans as to give me the opportunity of entertaining
you. The Executive Mansion is ample for the accommodation of
such members of your Cabinet or friends as may accompany you.
On behalf of the people of the State, also, I shall be pleased to
tender you a public reception at the State Capitol.
DAVID B. HILL.
STOCKTON HOUSE, CAPE MAY, August 12.
Gov. D. B. HILL, Albany :
I am very much obliged for your very cordial invitation, but it
will be only possible for me to make a brief stay at Albany. How
long depends upon the railroad schedule, not yet communicated to
me. As soon as details are arranged will advise you. For such
time as I can spare I will place myself in the hands of the city
and State authorities.
BENJAMIN HARRISON
The following prominent citizens of Albany met the
President at Selkirk and escorted him to the city : James
Ten Eyck, Chairman ; Col. A. E. Mather, John G. Myers,
James M. Warner, Henry C. Nevitt, and William Barnes.
Among others who greeted the President on his arrival
were Capt. John Palmer, Commander-in -Chief of the G.
A. R., Hon. Simon W. Rosendale, Deputy Controller
498 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
Westbrook, H. N. Fuller, C. B. Templeton, William H.
Cull, and Oscar Smith.
The reception was held in City Hall Square, where many
thousand Albanians assembled. On the platform Governor
Hill, Mayor Manning, with the Common Council, Secre-
tary of State Rice, State Treasurer Danforth, and other
State and municipal officers were gathered. The President
received an ovation as he approached the stand. Mayor
Manning welcomed him in the name of the city and pre-
sented Governor Hill, who extended to the Chief Magis-
trate a broader welcome in the name of the people of the
Empire State.
Responding to these hospitable addresses, the President
said :
Governor Hill, Mr. Mayor, and Fellow -citizens — The conditions of
the evening, these threatening and even dripping clouds, are not
favorable to any extended speech. I receive with great gratifica-
tion the very cordial expressions which have fallen from the lips
of his excellency, the Governor of this great State, and of his
honor, the Mayor of this great municipality. It is very gratifying
to me to be thus assured that as American citizens, as public offi-
cers administering each different functions in connection with the
government of the Nation, of the State, and of the municipality,
we, in common with this great body of citizens, whose servants
we all are, have that common love for our institutions, and that
common respect f or v those who, by the appointed constitutional
methods, have been chosen to administer them, as on such occa-
sions as this entirely obliterates all differences and brings us to-
gether in the great and enduring brotherhood of American citi-
zens. [Prolonged cheering.]
This great capital of a great State I have had the pleasure of
visiting once or twice before. I have many times visited your
commercial capital, and have traversed in many directions the
great and prosperous Empire State. You have concentrated here
great wealth and great productive capacity for increased wealth,
great financial institutions that reach out in their influences and
effects over the whole land. You have great prosperity and great
responsibility. The general Government is charged with certain
great functions in which the people have a general interest. Among
these is the duty of providing for our people the money with which
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 499
its business transactions are conducted. There has sometimes
been in some regions of the great West a thought that New York,
being largely a creditor State, was disposed to be a little hard with
the debtor communities of the great West ; but, my fellow-citizens,
narrow views ought not to prevail with them or with you and will
not in the light of friendly discussion. The law of commerce may
be selfishness, but the law of statesmanship should be broader and
more liberal. I do not intend to enter upon any subject that can
excite division ; but I do believe that the general Government is
solemnly charged with the duty of seeing that the money issued by
it is always and everywhere maintained at par. I believe that I
speak that which is the common thought of us all when I say that
every dollar, whether paper or coin, issued or stamped by the gen-
eral Government should always and everywhere be as good as any
other dollar. I am sure that we would all shun that condition of
things into which many peoples of the past have drifted, and of
Avhich wre have had in one of the great South American countries
a recent example — the distressed and hopeless condition into which
all business enterprise falls, when a nation issues an irredeemable or
depreciated money. The necessities of a great war can excuse
that.
I am one of those that believe that these men from your shops,
these farmers remote from money centres, have the largest interest
of all people in the world in having a dollar that is worth one
hundred cents every day in the year, and only such. If by any
chance we should fall into a condition where one dollar is not so
good as another I venture the assertion that that poorer dollar will
do its first errand in paying some poor laborer for his work.
Therefore, in the conduct of our public affafts I feel pledged, for
one, that all the influences of the Government should be on the side
of giving the people only good money and just as much of that
kind as we can get. [Cheers. ]
Now, my fellow-citizens, we have this year a most abundant,
yes, extraordinary, grain crop. All of the great staples have been
yielded to the labor of the farmer in a larger measure than ever
before. A leading agricultural paper estimated that the produce
of our farms will be worth $1,000,000,000 more this year than ever
before, and it happens that just with this great surplus in our
barns we find a scarcity in all the countries of Europe. Russia has
recently prohibited the export of rye, because she needs her crop to
feed her ow^n people. The demands in France and in England and
Germany will absorb every bushel of the great surplus we shall
have after our people are fed, and, whatever complaints there may
500 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
have been in the past, I believe this year will spread a smile of
gladness over the entire agricultural population of our country.
This is our opportunity, and I cannot see how it shall be possible
but that these exports of grain, now reaching the limit of the
capacity of our railroads and of our ships, shall soon bring back
to us the lost gold we sent to Europe and more that we did not lose.
I was told by an officer of the West Shore road to-day that that
road alone was cany ing 100, 000 bushels of wheat every day into
New York, and that it scarcely stopped an hour in the elevator,
but was run immediately into the bottom of a steam vessel that
was to carry it abroad. [Cheers. ]
This is only an illustration of what is going on. As the result
of it our people must be greatly enriched. Where there has been
complaint, where there has been poverty, there must come this
year plenty, for the gardens have loaded the table, the orchards
cannot bear the burdens that hang upon their reddening limbs,
and the granaries are not equal to the product of our fields. We
ought, then, this day to be a happy people. We ought to be grate-
ful for these conditions and careful everywhere to add to them the
virtue of patience, frugality, love of order, and, to crown all, a
great patriotism and devotion to the Constitution and the law —
always our rule of conduct as citizens. [Cheers.]
My fellow-citizens, it is very difficult to speak in this heavy
atmosphere. I beg, therefore, that you will allow me to thank
you for your friendly demonstration, and bid you good-night.
TROY, NEW YORK, AUGUST 18.
WHEN the special train reached Troy in the evening an
immense throng greeted the President. It was the noisi-
est demonstration of the day. General Harrison shook
hands with hundreds, many of them working men just
from the shops. The following prominent Trojans com-
posed the Committee of Reception and escorted the party
from Albany: Gen. Joseph B. Carr, Charles W. Tilling-
hast, William Kemp, Thomas Dickson, F. N. Mann,
William H. Hollister Jr., Col. Lee Chamberlin, John I.
Thompson, Col. Arthur MacArthur, D. S. Hasbrouck,
Samuel Morris, James H. Potts, J. F. Bridgeman, C. L.
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 601
Fuller, T. J. O'Sullivan, Cornelius Hannan, Henry Mc-
Millen, H. M.Reynolds, George H. Mead, Dr.C.B.Herrick,
and William Kemp, Jr. The veterans of Willard Post G.
A. R., under Commander Leet, participated in the recep-
tion.
Ex-Mayor Wm. Kemp made the address of welcome in
the unavoidable absence of Mayor Whelan. Midst great
enthusiasm and cheers General Carr introduced the Presi-
dent, who spoke as follows :
My Friends — I attempted a little while ago to speak in Albany in
this damp atmosphere, and find my voice is so much roughened by
the effort that I can hardly hope to make myself heard by you.
I am glad to have the opportunity to pause some moments in the
city of Troy, to look into the faces of its industrious and thrifty
population. I have long known of your city as a city of indus
try — as a great manufacturing city — sending out its products to all
the land, and by the skill of its workmen and the integrity of its
merchants finding everywhere a market for wares kept up to the
standard. [Applause. ]
The President was here interrupted by the blowing of
steam -whistles, and continued, smiling :
I am quite used to having my speeches punctuated by steam -
whistles. I am sure that ^you realize here in a large degree the
benefit of a policy that keeps the American market for the Ameri-
can workmen. [Cries of "Good I" and applause.] I try to be
broadly philanthropic in my thoughts aboiit the human race, but
cannot help thinking that an American workman has a stronger
claim on my sympathy and help than any other workman. [Ap-
plause. ]
I believe that our institutions are only safe while we have intel-
ligent and contented working classes. I would adopt constitutional
methods — any administrative method — that would preserve this
country from the condition into which some others have unfortu-
nately fallen, where a hard day's work does not bring sustenance
for the workman and his family. [Applause.] I would be glad
if there were not a home in Troy — not a home in the United States
of America — wrhere there was not plenty for man and wife and
child ; where there was not only sustenance, but a margin of saving
that might make the old age of the husband and wife and the life
of the children easier than this generation has been. [Cheers.]
502 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
BENNINGTON, VERMONT, AUGUST 19.
Dedication of the Battle Monument.
PRESIDENT HARRISON and his party reached North
Bennington at 8 o'clock on the night of the eighteenth. He
was met by the following Committee of Reception on the
part of the city of Bennington : Gen. J. G. McCullough,
M. S. Colburn, J. V. Carney, S. B. Hall, and A. P. Childs;
also, Dr. William Seward Webb, and Col. Geo. W. Hooker,
representing the State Entertainment Committee. As the
President appeared he was greeted with rousing cheers by
the large crowd and escorted to the residence of General
McCullough, whose guest he was.
The following morning the distinguished visitors re-
viewed the grand parade in honor of the centenary of
the admission of Vermont into the Union and the dedi-
cation of the Bennington Battle Monument. Col. W.
Seward Webb, President-General of the Sons of the Amer-
ican Revolution, accompanied by a mounted Grand Army
Post, escorted President Harrison to the Soldiers' Home,
where Gov. Carroll S. Page and all the living ex-Governors
of Vermont greeted him. The presidential party to review
the parade consisted of sixty guests of the State, and in-
cluded Secretary of War Proctor, Attorney-General Mil-
ler, Gen. O. O. Howard, Governor Russell, of Massachu-
setts ; Governor Tuttle, of New Hampshire ; Senator Henry
L. Dawes and ex-Gov. A. H. Rice, of Massachusetts ; Sena-
tors Edmunds and Morrill; Senators Wm. E. Chandler
and J. H. Gallinger, of New Hampshire; Congressmen
Grout and Powers; Adjutant-General Ayling and Hon.
John King, of New York.
The parade was the most brilliant and imposing ever
seen in the State. A feature of the decorations was a
magnificent triumphal arch, the turrets and embrasures of
which were filled with young maidens clad in brilliant
colors, while on the top of the arch were 125 little girls
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 503
dressed in white, with flowing hair, singing patriotic
Bongs. In the loftiest turret was a gorgeous throne of
gold, occupied by Miss Lillie Adams, personating the
Goddess of Liberty.
After the review the presidential party was escorted to
the grand stand at the monument, where 15,000 people as-
sembled.
The battle monument is a plain, square shaft of magne-
sian limestone 302 feet high. The interior at the base is
22 feet square and has a stairway. It was built under the
supervision of the Trustees of the Bennington Battle Mon-
ument Association. The Building Committee comprised
Gen. John G. McCullough, H. G. Root, A. B. Valentine,
M. C. Huling, and L. F. Abbott,
Gen. Wheelock G. Veazey was President of the Day,
and introduced Rev. Dr. Charles Parkhurst, of Boston,
who opened the dedicatory exercises with prayer. Gov-
ernor Page delivered the address of welcome, and was fol-
lowed by ex-Gov. B. F. Prescott, of New Hampshire,
President of the Bennington Battle Monument Association,
who transferred the monument to the care and keeping of
Vermont. Hon. Edward J. Phelps, the chosen orator of
the occasion, then delivered a historical and scholarly ad-
dress, which was listened to with marked attention by his
distinguished audience.
At the conclusion of Mr. Phelps ' oration Chairman
Veazey introduced President Harrison, who arose midst
prolonged cheers and spoke as follows :
Mr, President and Fellow-citizens — There are several obvious
reasons why I should not attempt to speak to you at this time. This
great audience is so uncomfortably situated that a further pro-
longation of these exercises cannot be desirable, but the stronger
reason is that you have just listened with rapt attention to a most
scholarly and interesting review of those historical incidents which
have suggested this assemblage and to those lessons which they
furnish to thoughtful and patriotic men. [Applause.] A son of
Vermont honored by his fellow-citizens, honored by the Nation
504 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
which he has served in distinguished public functions, honored
by the profession of which he is an ornament and an instructor,
has spoken for Vermont [applause] ; and it does not seem to me
fit that these golden sentences should be marred by any extempo-
raneous words which I can add. I come to you under circum-
stances that altogether forbid preparation. I have no other prepa-
ration for speech than this inspiring cup of good-will which you
have presented to my lips. [Applause. ] The most cordial welcome
which has been extended to me to-day makes it unfitting that I
should omit to make a cordial acknowledgment of it. Perhaps I
may be permitted, as a citizen of a Western State, to give expres-
sion to the high regard and honor in which Vermont is held.
Perhaps I may assume, as a public officer representing in some
sense all the States of the Union, to bring to-day their appreciation
of the history and people of this patriotic State. Its history is
unique, as Mr. Phelps has said. The other colonies staked their
lives, their fortunes and honor upon the struggle for independence,
with the assurance that if, by their valor and sacrifice, independ-
ence was achieved, all these were assured. The inhabitants of
the New Hampshire grants alone fought with their fellow-country-
men of the colonies for liberty, for political independence, unknow-
ing whether, when it had been achieved, the property, the homes
upon which they dwelt, would be assured by the success of the
confederate colonies. They could not know— they had the gravest
reason to fear — that when the authority of the confederation of
the States had been established this very Government, to whose
supremacy Vermont had so nobly contributed, might lend its
authority to the establishment of the claims of New York upon
their homes ; and yet, in all this story, though security of property
would undoubtedly have been pledged by the royal representative,
Vermont took a conspicuous, unselfish, and glorious part in
achieving the independence of the united colonies, trusting to the
justice of her cause for the ultimate security of the homes of her
people. [Applause. ]
It is a most noble and unmatched history ; and if I may deliver
the message of Indiana as a citizen of that State, and as a public
officer the message of all the States, I came to say, "Worthy Ver-
mont ! " [Cheers] . She has kept the faith unfalteringly from Ben -
nington until this day. She has added, in war and peace, many
illustrious names to our roll of military heroes and of great
statesmen. Her representation in the national Congress, as it has
been known to me, has been conspicuous for its influence, for the
position it has assumed in committee and in debate, and, so far
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 505
as I can recall, has been without personal reproach. [Cheers ]
We have occasionally come to Vermont with a call that did not
originate with her people, and those have been answered with the
same pure, high consecration to public duty as has been the case
with those who have been chosen by your suffrages to represent the
State, and I found when the difficult task of arranging a Cabinet
was devolved upon me that I could not get along without a Vermont
stick in it [laughter and applause], and I am sure you have plenty
of timber left in each of the great political parties. [Cheers.]
The participation of this State in the War of the Rebellion was
magnificent. Her troops took to the fields of the South that high
consecration to liberty which had characterized their fathers in
the Revolutionary struggle. [Applause. ] They did not forget, on
the hot savannas of the South, the green tops of these hills, ever
in their vision, lifting up their hearts in faith that God would
again bring the good cause of freedom to a just issue. [Applause. ]
We are to-day approaching the conclusion of a summer of extra-
ordinary fruitfulness. How insignificant the stores that were
gathered at Bennington in 1777 compared with these great store-
houses bursting with fulness to-day! Our excess meets the
deficiency of Europe, and a ready market is offered for all our
cereals. We shall grow richer by contributions which other coun
tries shall make as they take from our storehouses the food needed
to sustain their people. But after all, it is not the census tables of
production or of wealth that tell the story of the greatness of this
country. Vermont has not been one of the rich States of the
Union in gold and silver, and its lands have not given the returns
that some of the fertile riversides of the West yield. There has
been here constant effort and honest toil ; but out of all this there
has been brought a sturdy manhood, which is better than riches,
on which, rather than to wealth, the security of our country rests.
[Applause.] I beg you to accept my sincere thanks again for the
evidence of your friendliness, and my apology that the conditions
are not such as to enable me to speak as I could wish. [Cheers.]
The Banquet in the Tent.
At 4 o'clock the President's party and the State's invited
guests were entertained at a banquet spread in a mammoth
tent. The ladies of the party were seated in front of the
President. Among the notable ladies present were the
wives of General Alger and Attorney-General Miller,
50G HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
Mrs. E. J. Phelps, Mrs. H. H. Baxter, Mrs. A. F. Walker,
Mrs. Horatio Loomis, Mrs. W. G. Veazey, and the wives
of ex-Governor Ormsbee and Gen. L. G. Kingsley, Miss
Roberts, Miss Brown, Miss Ormsbee, the wife of Senator
Merrill, Mrs. B. B. Smalley, the wives of ex-Governors
Farnham and Pingree, and of Auditor Towell. President
Harrison was seated between Governor Page and Secre-
tary Proctor.
Among the distinguished guests — other than those pre-
viously enumerated — were Justice Blatchford, of the Su-
preme Court ; Gen. Russell A. Alger ; Gen. Alexander S.
Webb, of New York; Col. A. F. Walker, of Chicago;
Speaker W. E. Barrett, Massachusetts; Col. Albert Clarke,
Boston; Maj.-Gen. J. M. Warner, of Albany; John King,
President Erie Railway; H. W. Bruce, Kentucky; ex-
Gov. R. S. Green, New Jersey ; Hon. B. B. Smalley, Dr.
E. H. Doty, Asa B. Gardner, Maj.-Gen. William Walls;
Surg.-Gen. J. C. Rutherford and Quartermaster- General
W. H. Gilmore, of Vermont, F. B. Barrett and L. L. Tar-
bell, Massachusetts; Col. H. C. Cutler, Col. M. J. Horton,
Col. W. H. H. Slack, and Col. H. F. Brigham, of Governor
Page's staff. The following ex-Governors of Vermont
were present : J. W . Stewart, Barstow, Pingree, Farn-
ham, and E. J. Ormsbee.
The entertainment was upon an extraordinary scale,
inasmuch as over 3, 500 persons were seated at the banquet
tables at one time, and 16,000 pieces of figured china were
used, while the President's table was provided with a
dinner service of rare Sevres and old Delft ware.
General Veazey, the President of the Committee, again
introduced President Harrison, who spoke as follows :
Mr. President and Fellou*- citizens — Whatever temporary injury
my voice has suffered was not at the hands of Vermont. [Laughter
and applause. ] New York is responsible. In Albany I spoke in
the rain to a large assemblage. Perhaps, if it were worth while to
trace this vocal infirmity further, I might find its origin at Cape
HARItlSOX'S SPEECHES. 507
May [laughter], for I think I started upon this trip with the ele-
ments of a cold that has to some degree marred the pleasure which I
had anticipated to-day. But, notwithstanding what my friend,
General Veazey, has described as " the dilapidated condition" of my
voice, I will respond to his request to say a word to you. I know
that General Veazey had been put in charge of the transportation
lines of the country ; but I did not expect to find him in charge of
what the boys used to call the "cracker line." [Laughter.] It
seems th'at his capacity for usefulness in the public service is so
great and so diversified that you have called upon him to conduct
the exercises of this magnificent occasion. He is a most excellent
Interstate Commerce Commissioner [applause] , an honor to your
State, and I have no criticism of him as President of the day, ex-
cept that he calls too much attention to me. [Laughter and ap-
plause. ]
This scene, these tables so bountifully and so tastefully spread,
was one full of beauty when we entered, but it seems now to have
taken on some of that " dilapidation" which General Veazey as-
cribed to my voice. [Laughter. ] I am sure that if the supplies
gathered at Bennington to-day had been here in 1777 that struggle
would have been much more obstinate. [Laughter.] But, my
fellow-citizens, there is much in this occasion that is full of in-
struction to the strangers who by your hospitable invitation have
the privilege of meeting with you. Wherever men may have been
born within this galaxy of great States, which makes the greater
Union, there is respect and honor for the New Enlgand character.
It has been a source of strength to the Nation in its development in
material things. It has furnished to literature and to invention
some of the largest contributions , but, more than all this, it has
done a great work for all the States, and especially those States
of the West and Northwest, in which its enterprising sons have
found new homes, in establishing everywhere a love of social order
and a patriotic devotion to the Union of States. [Applause.] If
we seek to find the institutions of New England that have formed
the character of its own people and have exercised a stronger
moulding influence than that cf any other section upon our whole
people we shall find them, I think, in their temples, in their
schools, in their town meetings and in their God-fearing homes.
[Applause. ] The courage of those who fought at Bennington, at
Concord, Lexington, Bunker Hill, and Saratoga was born of a
high trust in God. They were men who, fearing God, had naught
else to fear. That devotion to local self-government which origi-
nated and for so long maintained the town meeting, establishing
508 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
and perpetuating a true democracy, an equal, full participation and
responsibility in all public affairs on the part of every citizen, was
the cause of the development of the love of social order and respect
for law which has characterized your communities, has made them
safe and commemorable abodes for your people. These migrations
between the States have been to your loss, but there is now a turn-
ing back to these States of New England and to some of its unused
farms, which I believe is to continue and increase. The migration
which you have sent into the South to develop its industries, to
open its mines, to set up factories and furnaces, is doing marvel-
lous work in unifying our people. [Applause. ] As I journeyed
recently across the continent this oneness of our people was strongly
impressed upon me. I think these centennial observances which
have crowded one upon another from Concord to the centennial of
the adoption of the Constitution and the organization of the Su-
preme Court have turned the thought of our people to the most
inspiring incident in our history, and have greatly intensified and
developed our love of the flag and our Constitution. [Applause. ]
I do not believe there has been a time in our history when there
has been a deeper, fonder love for the unity of the States, for the
flag that emblematizes this unity, and for the Constitution which
cements it. [Applause. ]
I believe we have come to a time when we may look out to
greater things. Secure in our own institutions, enriched almost
beyond calculation, I believe we have reached a time when we
may take a large part in the great transactions of the world.
[Cheers. ] I believe our people are prepared now to insist that the
American flag shall again be seen upon the sea [applause], and
that our merchants and manufacturers are ready to seize the golden
opportunity that is now offered for extending our commerce into
the States of Central and South America. [Cheers.] I believe
that conservative views of finance will prevail in this country.
[Applause. ] I am sure discontent and temporary distress will not
tempt our people to forsake those safe lines of public administration
in which commercial security alone rests. [Applause.] As long as
the general Government furnishes the money of the people for their
great business transactions I believe we will insist, as I have said be-
fore, that every dollar issued, whether paper or coin, shall be as good
and be kept as good as any other dollar that issues. [Cheers. ] The
purity, the equality of what we call dollars must be preserved, or
an element of uncertainty and of bankruptcy will be introduced
into all business transactions. This I may say without crossing
lines of division How this end is to be attained I will not at«
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. . 509
tempt to sketch, but I do not hesitate to say that I feel myself, in
the public interest, pledged so far as in me lies to maintain that
equality between our circulating money that is essential to the per-
fect use of all. [Prolonged applause. ]
I have gone beyond the promise of the President of the day, and
have been betrayed by your friendliness into speaking two or three
words. May I, in closing, tender to these good women of Vermont
my thanks for the grace and sweetness which their services and
their presence have lent to this happy occasion? May I say to them
that the devoted services of their mothers, their courage and
patience and helpfulness shown by the women in the great struggle
for liberty cannot be too highly appreciated? It was an easier fate
to march with bared breasts against the Hessian ramparts at Beu-
nington than to sit in the lonely homestead awaiting the issue
with tearful eyes uplifted to God in prayer for those who perilled
their lives for the cause. All honor to the New England mother,
the queen of the New England home ! [Applause. ] There, in those
nurseries of virtue and truth, have been found the strongest in-
fluences that have moulded your people for good and led your
sons to honor. [Great cheering. ]
At the conclusion John B. Carney, Chairman of the
Citizens' Committee, presented General Harrison with a
gold medal bearing a likeness of the Bennington Monu-
ment. As the medal was pinned on the President's coat
he remarked : " It needed not this memento to remind me
of this auspicious occasion."
MT. M'GREGOR, AUGUST 20.
PRESIDENT HARRISON and his party arrived at Saratoga
on the morning of the 20th, and were heartily greeted. He
immediately embarked for Mt. McGregor, where another
large gathering welcomed him. After visiting the his-
toric Grant cottage the President became the guest of W.
J. Arkell, at the latter 's cottage on the mountain. In the
afternoon the party partook of a " country dinner" at the
Hotel Balmoral, given by the Hon. James Arkell in honor
of the President's fifty-eighth birthday.
510 % HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
About 120 guests participated. Senator Arkell presided.
Among those present besides the President's party were :
B. Gillam, Capt. John Palmer, Commander G. A. R. ;
Hugh Keilly, W. H. Bockes, M. L. Staver, P. Farrelly, J.
S. Lamoreaux, J.M.Francis, William Barnes, Jr., and
William Whitney, of Albany ; Edward Ellis and Samuel
Insul, of Schenectady ; John W. Vrooman, of Herkimer ;
J. Y. Foster, C. C. Shayne, Spencer Trask, John A.
Sleicher, J. H. Breslin, W. A. Sweetzer, S. E. May, and
Marshall P. Wilder, of New York; D. F. Ritchie, W. T.
Rockwood, H. B. Hanson, J. G. B. Woolworthy, W.
Lester, C. S. Lester, W. W. Worden, E. H. Peters, J. M.
Marvin, E. C. Clark, and T. F. Hamilton, of Saratoga; J.
A. Manning, of Troy; D. W. Mabee, Frank Jones, and S.
C. Medberry, of Ballston, and John Kellogg and W. J.
Kline, of Amsterdam. Mr. Arkell paid an eloquent trib-
ute to the memory of General Grant and congratulated Jiis
distinguished guest.
President Harrison arose and amid great cheering began :
Mr. Arkell and Friends — It was a part of the covenant of this
feast that it should be a silent one ; not exactly a Quaker meeting,
as Mr. Arkell has said, because silence there is apt to be broken by
the moving of the spirit. That is not a safe rule for a banquet.
[Laughter.] I rise only to thank your generous host and these
gentlemen from different parts of the State who honor this occa-
sion for their friendliness and their esteem. We are gathered
here in a spot which is historic. This mountain has been fixed in
the affectionate and reverent memory of all our people and has been
glorified by the death on its summit of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant.
[Applause.] It is fit that that great spirit that had already lifted
its fame to a height unknown in American history should take its
flight from this mountain-top. It has been said that a great life
went out here ; but great lives, like that of General Grant, do not
go out. They go on. [Cries of " Good ! Good !" and great applause. ]
I will ask you in a reverent and affectionate and patriotic remem-
brance of that man who came to recover all failures in military
achievement, and with his great generalship and inflexible purpose
to cany the flag of the republic to ultimate triumph, recalling with
reverent interest his memory, to drink a toast in silt nee as a pledge
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 511
that we will ever keep in mind his great services, and in doing so
will perpetuate his great citizenship and the glory of the Nation
he fought to save.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NEW YORK, AUGUST 21.
THE President left Mt. McGregor the afternoon of the
21st, and reached Saratoga at 4 o'clock, where 50,000 people
joined in an ovation to him. It was the largest gathering
ever seen in Saratoga, and the town was resplendent with
colors. The Chief Executive was met by a reception
committee composed of Hon. John R. Putnam, Hon. A.
Bockes, Hon. Henry Hilton, Hon. H. S. Clement, Hon.
James M. Marvin, Hon. John W. Crane, Hon. J. W.
Houghton, Gen. W. B. French, Hon. John Foley, Hon. D.
Lohnas, Col. David F. Ritchie, Hon. Lewis Varney, Lieut.
A. L. Hall, Edward Kearney, John A. Manning, George
B. Cluett, Prof. Edward 1ST. Jones, and J. G. B. Woolworth.
Wheeler Post, G. A. R. , acted as an escort of honor.
Arrived at the Grand Union Hotel, the President was
greeted with great clapping of hands and the waving of
10,000 handkerchiefs by the ladies. He reviewed the pro-
cession from the piazza, and, on being introduced by Village
President Lohnas, spoke a follows :
My Fellow -citizens — The greatness of this assembly makes it im-
possible that I should do more than thank you for the magnificent
welcome which you have extended me to-day. I have great
pleasure in being again for a few days in Saratoga — this world re-
nowned health and pleasure resort. It gives me great satisfaction
to witness, on the part of the citizens of Saratoga and of the visitors
who are spending a season for refreshment or recuperation here,
the expression of kindness which beams upon me from all j-our
faces. I am sure the explanation of all this is that you are all
American citizens, lovers of the flag and the Constitution [ap-
plause], and in thus assembling you give expression to your loyalty
and patriotism. [Applause. ] It is not, I am sure, an individual
expression ; it is larger and better than that, for this country of ours
its distinguished in naught else more than in the fact that its people
512 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
give their love and loyalty and service, not to individuals, but to
institutions. [Applause.] We love this country because it is a
land of liberty , because the web and woof of its institutions are
designed to promote and secure individual liberty and general
prosperity. [Applause.] We love it because it not only does not
create, but because it does not tolerate, any distinction between
men other than that of merit. [Applause.] I desire to thank
those comrades who wear the honored badge of the Grand Army
of the Republic for their escort and their welcome. I never see
this badge anywhere that I do not recognize its wearer as a friend.
[Applause.] Survivors of a great struggle for the perpetuity of
our institutions — having endured in march and camp and battle
the utmost that men can endure, and given the utmost that men
can give — they are now as citizens of this republic in civic Ufe
doing their part to maintain order in its communities and to pro-
mote in peace the honor and prosperity of the country they saved.
[Applause. ] Thanking you once more for your friendliness and
cordial enthusiasm, I will ask you to excuse me from further
speech. [Great applause. ]
FROM SARATOGA THROUGH VERMONT.
THE last day of the President's stay at Saratoga Springs
he was tendered a reception by Mr. and Mrs. J. S. T. Strana-
han, of Brooklyn, at the Pompeiian House of Pansa. Ad-
mission was by card, and several hundred well-known
people paid their respects to the Chief Magistrate. The
wives of Governor Jackson, of Marlyand, ex-Governor
Baldwin, of Michigan, and Hon. George Bliss, of New
York, assisted the host and hostess in receiving. Hon.
David F. Ritchie introduced the guests.
On the morning of August 25 the President, accompanied
by Secretary Proctor and the other members of his party,
left Saratoga on a journey through the Green Mountain
State. They were accompanied by Vice-President E. C.
Smith, of the Vermont Central road, and Superintendent
C. D. Hammond, of the Delaware and Hudson.
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 513
WHITEHALL, NEW YORK, AUGUST, 25.
THE first stop was at Whitehall, where the party was
met by Hon. H. G. Burleigh, Gen. J. C. Rogers, William
Simiott, Luke H. Carrington, A. J. Taft, and Maj. John
Dwyer, President of the Washington County Veteran As-
sociation. A train containing several hundred veterans,
on their way to a reunion at Dresden, was in waiting, and
a large crowd assembled around the President's car. The
Burleigh Corps acted as a guard of honor. Ex- Congress-
man Burleigh, in a brief speech, introduced the President,
whose remarks created much enthusiasm. He said :
Comrades and Fellow -citizens — It is pleasant to come this morn-
ing upon an assemblage of comrades gathering with their families
to a social reunion to recall their services and sacrifices and to
bathe their souls in the glory of this bright day and of this great
land that they fought to save. [Applause.] Such assemblages are
full of interest to the veterans, and they are full of instruction and
inspiration to those who gather with them. It is our habit in the
West, as it is yours here, to have these annual meetings, and it is
always a pleasure to me when I can arrange to meet with the com-
rades of my old regiment, or of the old brigade, or with the vet
erans of any regiment of any State who stood for the flag. [Ap-
plause. ] There is a pathetic side to all this. We gather with
diminished ranks from year to year. We miss the comrades who
are dropping by the way. We see repeated now that which we
saw as the great column moved on in the campaign of the war — a
comrade dropping out, borne to the hospital, followed to the grave —
and yet these soldier memories and thoughts are brightened by the
glories which inspire and attend all these gatherings of the veterans
of the war. We see the old flag again, and I am glad to believe
that there has never been a period in our history when there was
more love for it. [Applause. ]
It is quite natural that it ^hould be so. These veterans who
stand about me have seen many days and months in camps and
battlefields and in devastated country through which they marched
wrhen there was on all the horizon one thing of beauty — that glori-
fied flag. [Applause. ] They brought home the love of it in their
hearts, wrought in every fibre of their nature ; and it is very
natural that the children who have come on should catch this in-
514 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
spiration and love from the fathers who perilled everything that
the flag might still be held in honor, and still be an emblem of the
authority of one Constitution over an undivided Nation. We see
to day how worthy the land was for which our comrades died, and
for which you, my comrades, offered your lives, in its great
development and its increasing population, in its multiplying
homes, where plenty and prosperity, the love of God and social
order, and all good things abide. In this great Nation, strid-
ing on in wealth and prosperity to the very first place among the
nations of the earth ; in this land, in truth as well as in theory the
land of the free, we see that which was worthy of the utmost
sacrifice of the truest men. [Prolonged Cheers. ]
I recall with pleasure that some of the New York regiments,
coming to the Western army with Hooker and Howard and Gerry
and Williams and others, served in the same corps to which I was
designated during the great campaign upon Atlanta. Some of the
comrades who made that march from Chattanooga to Atlanta and
the sea are here to-day, survivors of one of the greatest, in all its
aspects, of all the campaigns of the war. You came from those
bloody fields upon the Potomac, and struck hands with us of the
West as brothers. You helped us in the struggle there to cut the
Confederacy in twain, and, lapping around by the sea, to strike
hands with Grant again near Appomatox. [cheers. ]
I thank you again most cordially for your friendly demonstration
and presence. If I had the power to call down blessings upon my
fellow-men, the home of every comrade here would be full of all
prosperity. [Applause. ]
FAIR HAVEN, VERMONT, AUGUST 25.
AT Whitehall the party was joined by Adj. -Gen. T. S.
Peck and Col. M. J. Horton, of Governor Page's staff.
When the Vermont line was reached General Peck, in the
name of the Governor, formally welcomed the President to
the State. Fair Haven was reached at 10 o'clock. The
Reception Committee was Hon. Samuel L. Hazard, An-
drew N. Adams, George M. Fuller, and Wm. V. Roberts.
Mr. Hazard introduced President Harrison, who said :
My Fellow -citizens — We have already lost some minutes at your
station, and it will not be possible for me to hold the train longer.
HARRISON'S SPEECHES 515
I thank you for this friendly greeting, and for the kindness which
beams upon me from the faces of these contented and happy men
and women of the good State of Vermont. I am glad to see about
me the evidences of the indomitable pluck and successful enter-
prise which characterize so highly all of your New England States.
When you found the stones too thick to make agriculture profitable
you compelled the rocks to yield you a subsistence, and these great
slate and marble industries have become the centre of wealthy and
prosperous communities. You are here, each in his own place ;
these good ladies in that supremely influential position, the Ameri-
can home, and you, my countrymen, in the shops and in the fields,
making contributions to the prosperity and glory of this great
Nation. It is pleasant to know that the love of country, stimulated
by the teaching of the father and of the mother, revived by these
recollections of the first struggle for independence, deepened by
the sacrifices which were made in the Civil War to preserve what
our fathers had purchased for us, are still holding sway in the
hearts of our people. [Cheers.]
We are conspicuously a people abiding in respect and honor for
the law. The law, as expressed in our constitutions and in our
statute-books, is the sovereign to which we all bow. We acknowl-
edge no other. To the law each and every one should give his un-
divided allegiance and his faithful service. There is no other rule
that will bring and maintain in our communities that peaceful and
orderly condition, that good neighborhood and kindly intercourse,
which is so essential to the happiness of any community. I am
sure that these things, now as of old, characterize these New Eng-
land communities, where the strife which your colder climate and
your soil compel you to make for your subsistence has bred habits
of thrift, economy, and independence, and the love of liberty
which I am sure is as fadeless as the stars. [Applause. ]
Thanking you again for this pleasant morning reception, I will
bid you good-by. [Applause.]
CASTLETON, VERMONT, AUGUST 25.
AT Castleton there was a large crowd, including 200
pupils of the Normal School, who pelted the President with
roses and golden-rod. The Reception Committee com-
prised Hon. Henry L. Clark, A. E. Leavenworth, S. B.
Ellis, and A. L. Ramson.
516 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
Judge Clark introduced the President, who said :
Ladies and Gentlemen — It is very pleasant to meet here, mingling
•with the citizens of this neighborhood, the pupils of your Normal
School. One of the most influential characters in the history of
the United States is the New England school-teacher. If we could
follow the track of these intelligent men and women who have
gone out from the New England States into the West and South
if we could trace those strong, yet slender and hard-to-be-discov
ered, threads of influence which they have started in the commu-
nities to which they "went ; if we could know how they have im-
pressed on the minds of the pupils brought under their care the
great lessons of self-respect and love for free institutions and social
order, — we should have a higher thought than we have yet had of
the power and dignity of these pioneers of education. [Cheers. ]
BRANDON, VERMONT, AUGUST 25.
BRANDON gave the travellers a hearty reception at 11
A. M. Ex-Gov. J. W. Stewart, of Middlebury, Hon. Aldace
F. Walker, of Chicago; G. G. Benedict and C. S. Forbes, of
St. Albans, joined the party here. Ex-Governor Ormsbee
welcomed the President on behalf of the residents of
Brandon.
General Harrison said :
My Fellow -citizens — The kindly pelting "which I have received at
the hands of some of your ladies and of these bright children
reminds me of a like experience on the California trip, when we
•were so pelted with bouquets of handsome flowers that we were
very often compelled to retreat from the platform and take cover
in the car. These gifts of flowers which you bring to me here are
the products of your fields and not of your gardens. The beautiful
golden-rod ! It is pleasant to think that in this plant, so widely
distributed, slightly diversified in its characteristics, but spreading
over nearly our whole country, we have a type of the diversity and
yet the oneness of our people ; and I am glad to think that its
golden hue typifies the gladness and joy and prosperity that is over
all our fields this happy year, and, I trust, in all your homes. I
thank you for your pleasant greeting this morning, and bid you
good-by. [Cheers.]
HARRISON'S SPEECHES: 517
MIDDLEBURY, VERMONT, AUGUST 25.
ON the arrival of the train at Middlebury at 11: 30 A.M.
another large and enthusiastic throng was on hand. The
President was greeted by ex-Gov. John W. Stewart, Col.
A. A. Fletcher, G. S. Wainwright, Judge James M. Slade,
Charles M. Wilds, E. H. Thorp, E. P. Russell, B. S. Beck-
with, E. J. Mathews, John H. Stewart, A. J. Marshall,
Col. T. M. Chapman, Rufus Wainwright, and Frank A.
Bond. The veterans of Russel Post, G. A. R. , were pres-
ent in a body, also the Sons of Veterans.
Governor Stewart introduced the President, who said :
My Fellow -citizens — Though I have not before had the pleasure of
looking into the faces of many of you, Vermont has for many
years been familiar to me, and has been placed high in my esteem
by the acquaintance I have formed at Washington with the repre-
sentatives you have sent there. It has been a great pleasure to me
to know your esteemed fellow-citizen, Governor Stewart. Your
State and district and the Nation at large have had in him a most
able and faithful champion of all that was true and clean and right.
[Three cheers were given for Governor Stewart.]
You have been particularly fortunate, I think, in your represen-
tatives at Washington, as I had occasion to say the other day at
Bennington. I am glad to be here at the site of this institution of
learning — Middlebury College, which is soon to complete its hun-
dredth year of modest yet efficient service in training the minds of
your young men for usefulness in life. These home institutions,
in which these able and faithful men assiduously give themselves
and their lives to the building up and development of the intelli-
gence— and not only that, but of the moral side of your young men —
are bulwarks of strength to your State and to your community.
They cannot be too highly esteemed and honored by you ; because,
my countrymen, kings may rule over an ignorant people, and by
their iron control hold them in subjection and in the quietness of
tyranny, but a free land rests upon the intelligence of its people,
and has no other safety than in well-grounded education and
thorough moral training. [Cries of "Good ! Good !" and applause.]
Again I thank you for this cordial greeting which Vermont gives
me this morning, and to these comrades and friends I extend a com-
rade's greeting and good wishes. [Applause.]
518 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
VERGENNES, VERMONT, AUGUST 25.
AT Vergennes a large and joyful crowd greeted the dis-
tinguished traveller. The Reception Committee com-
prised Hon. J. G. Hindes, Mayor of the city; Hon. J. D.
Smith, Herri ck Stevens, and J. N. Norton.
Secretary Proctor introduced the President, who spoke
as follows :
My Fellow-citizens — I have had, as you know, some experience
in this business of speaking from the end of a railroad train. But
it has seemed to me this morning that these Vermont towns are
closer together than on any other route I have travelled. [Laughter. ]
Perhaps it is because your State is not very large, and you have
had to put your towns close together in order to get them all in.
[Laughter.] I have heard an interesting story of the origin of this
city of Vergennes. I suppose it was one of the earliest instances
in the history of our country, if not the very first, of a city being
constructed upon paper before it was built upon the ground.
[Laughter.] That has come to be quite a familiar practice in these
late days of speculation, but it is singular that a city charter and
the ample corporate limits of one mile square should have been
given to Vergennes before this century began. If the expectations
of the founder of this city have not been realized fully, you have
more than realized all the thoughts of Ethan Allan and his con-
temporaries in the greatness and prosperity of your State and in
the richer glory and higher greatness of the Nation of which you
are a part. [Cheers. ]
I am glad this morning to look into the con ten ted faces of another
audience of New England people. You were greatly disparaged in
the estimation of some of our people before the Civil War. There
had spread unfortunately over the minds of our Southern brethren
the impression that you were so much given to money, to thrift,
and to toil that your hands had forgotten how to fight. It was a
most wholesome lesson when the whole country learned again in
the gallant charges and stubborn resistances of the Vermont Brigade
that the old New England spirit still lived ; that Paul Revere still
rode the highways of New England ; and that the men of Concord
and Lexington and Bennington still ploughed her fields. [Ap-
plause.] I am glad to meet you this bright, joyous morning ; and
I am sure, in view of the fatigues that have preceded and that are
to follow, you will excuse me from further speech, and accept my
most heartfelt thanks for your friendliness. [Applause. ]
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 519
BURLINGTON, VERMONT, AUGUST 25.
BURLINGTON gave the President a royal reception Tues-
day noon. The Queen City was elaborately decorated, and
all business was suspended during the demonstration.
The distinguished visitors were welcomed by Senator
George F. Edmunds, his honor Mayor Hazelton, Col. Le
Grand B. Cannon, Hon. E. J. Phelps, Gen. William Wells,
ex-Gov. U. A. Woodbury, Hon. B. B. Smalley, Hon. G. G.
Benedict, C. F. Wheeler, ex-Governor Barstow, C. W.
Woodhouse, and Elias Lyman, President of the Board of
Aldermen. After luncheon at the home of Senator Ed-
munds, the President was escorted through the Fletcher
Library to a platform fronting the park, where 20,000 peo-
ple greeted him.
Mayor Hazelton delivered the address of welcome and
introduced President Harrison, who responded as follows :
Mr. Mayor and Fellow -citizens — I am not a little intimidated as I
face so unexpectedly this vast concourse of the citizens of this
great State of Vermont. I say great, though your territorial extent
does not place you among large States ; great in an origin that
gave occasion for an early and resolute expression of that love of
liberty which has always pervaded your people ; great in a popula-
tion that has never bowed the knee to the arrogance of power or to
the blandishments of wealth, and has, through all the history of
the State, maintained the inspiration of its early annals for love
of personal independence. I rejoice to be present to-day at the
home of one of your distinguished public servants, with whom it
was my good fortune for a time to be associated in the discharge
of public duties. I am glad to see here, at his own home, the
respect and honor in which George F. Edmunds is deservedly held
by the people of Vermont. [Applause. ] Having for six years
witnessed the value of his services as a legislator in the Seriate of
the United States, I share with you the regret that this country is
no longer to enjoy those services ; though it is a1 source of gratifica-
tion to you, as it is to me, to know that in his love and loyalty to
the State that he has so highly honored, in his love and loyalty to
the Union of States, there will be no call for his wise counsel and
help that will not find a ready response from the walks of life
which he has chosen to resume. [Applause.]
520 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
My fellow -citizens, it is true, as your Mayor has said, happily
true, that we not infrequently, and with ease, lift ourselves above
all the contentions of party strife and stand in the clear, inspiring
and stimulating sunshine as American patriots. [Applause.] We
are conspicuously a people who give their allegiance to institu-
tions and not to men. [Applause.] It were a happy thing for
others of our sister republics on this hemisphere if they could fol
low this great example. Our people are not slow to appreciat<
public services. They are not reluctant to acknowledge transcend
ent genius, but they give their loyalty as citizens to institutions,
and not to parties or to men. [Applause.] This was happily
shown in our great rebellion, when party divisions, that seemed to
lift barriers between us like these mountain peaks, were obliterated
in a moment by that love for the Constitution and the flag which
pervaded all our people [applause] — a love that made the people
of all these great States one; that sent from Vermont and Massa-
chusetts, as from Indiana, those stalwart and devoted sons v\ ho
offered— many of them gave— their lives for the perpetuity of the
Union and the honor of the flag. Let us pursue our lines of divi-
sion. It is characteristic of a free people — it is essential — that
mental agitation and unrest out of which the highest and best is
evolved. But let us never forget that the fundamental thought of
our Government is the rule of the majority, lawfully expressed at
pure and clean elections, and that, when thus expressed, the laws
enacted by those chosen to make our laws are not less of the minor
ity than of the majority. [Applause.] Those who make the laws
are our servants, to whom we yield the respect of office and that
measure of personal regard to which their lives may entitle them.
[Applause. ]
We are this year a most favored and happy people. Drouth has
blasted the crops of many of the nations of the world. Most of
the peoples of Europe are short of food. And God has this year,
mercifully to us, mercifully to them, made our store- houses to burst
with plenty. We have a great surplus of breadstuffs, and there is
not a bushel of wheat, corn, rye or oats that will not find a ready
market this year. Happy are we in this great prosperity ; happ}
that again out of your abundance the lack of other peoples may be
supplied. Let us be careful that our heads are not turned by too
much prosperity. It has been out of hardness, out of struggles, out
of self denials, out of that thrift and economy which was an inci-
dent of your soil, that the best things in New England have come.
[Applause. ] And, while thankful to God for a season that diffuses
its blessings as this sweet sunshine is diffused into all our homes,
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 52!
let us remember that it is not, after all, riches that exalt the
Nation. It is a pure, clean, high, intellectual, moral, and God-
fearing citizenship that is our glory and security as a Nation.
[Applause. ]
Let me thank you again for the friendliness of your manifesta-
tions, for the opportunity to stand for a few moments in this most
beautiful city. [Applause. ] You have the advantage of many of
our municipalities. You have not only the beauties of these groves
and gardens and pleasant streets and lovely homes, but from these
hilltops you have laid under contribution fifty miles in either
direction to beautify Burlington. [Applause,] I thank you, and
part with you with regret that my stay cannot be longer and my
intercourse with you more personal and informal, [Applause.]
ST. ALBANS, VERMONT, AUGUST 25.
THE President and party embarked at Burlington on
board Col. W. Seward Webb's yacht Elfrida and greatly
enjoyed the sail on Lake Champlain, landing at Maquam
in the evening, whence a special train carried them to St.
Albans, where they were welcomed by the Committee of
Reception, consisting of Hon. A. D. Tenney, George TV
Childs, Alfred A. Hall, T. M. Deal, W. Tracy Smith, B.
F. Kelley, A. L. Weeks, and A. W. Fuller. After dining
at Governor Smith's the President, at 9 P.M., was escorted
to the Welden House, fronting St. Albans Park. Twelve
thousand people greeted him. The scene was one @f un-
usual beauty ; from the branching elms hung 2,000 Chinese
lanterns.
When the President appeared on the balcony the enthu-
siasm was great. He was introduced by Hon. E. C. Smith,
and spoke as follows :
My Fellow-citizens — I fear that my voice will not permit me suit-
ably to acknowledge this magnificent demonstration. In the tour
which I made this spring across the continent I witnessed very
many great assemblages and looked upon very many brilliant and
entrancing scenes, but I recall none outside the greater cities more
beautiful and worthy than this in St. Albans to-night. [Applause. ]
522 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
Most deeply do I feel whatever of personal respect you thus evi-
dence, and yet more highly do I appreciate that love of American
institutions, that fealty to the flag, which I am sure is the domi-
nant impulse in this great assembly. [Applause. ]
Your situation upon this great water line connecting the St.
Lawrence with the Hudson was an early suggestion to the trader
as well as to the invader. The Indian canoe, the boat of the fur-
trader, ploughed these waters in the early days of our history. At
a later time they suggested to the military leaders of Great Britain
who commanded the armies sent for the subjection of the colonies
that familiar stategy of severing the colonies into two parts by
moving and establishing posts upon Champlain and the Hudson.
These attempts and the brave resistance which was made by our
people, in which Vermont had so conspicuous and creditable a
part, have made all the shores of Lake Champlain historic ground.
In the address delivered by President Bartlett in 1877 at the observ-
ance of the centennial of the battle of Bennington, I noticed that
he said, "Trading Manchester sent two regiments to conquer a
market, " and it recalled to my mind the fact that one of the great
motives of resistance on the part of the colonies was the unjust
trade restrictions and exactions which were imposed upon them by
the mother country in order to secure the American markets for
the British manufacturer. You recall how severe and persistent
were the measures adopted in order to repress and crush out the
establishment of manufacturing industries in the colonies. This
battle for a market was never more general or more strenuous than
now among all of the nations of the world, though new generally
not pushed to bloodshed. [Applause.] All of the countries of the
Old World have through colonial extension by the division of
Africa, much as a boy might divide a watermelon among his fel-
lows, had reference largely to trade extensions and enlarged
markets. In this contest we have ourselves engaged, not by
attempting to push our political domain into lands that are not
rightfully ours, not by attempting to overthrow or subjugate the
weaker but friendly powers of this hemisphere, but by those
methods of peaceful and profitable interchange which are good for
them as for us [Cries of "Good! good!" and applause.] Secure
in the great American market for our manufactures — a market the
best per capita of any in the world — we have come now to believe
that we may well extend our trade and send our manufactured
products to other countries across the seas and in ships carrying
the American flag. [Cries of " Good ! good ! " and applause. ] We
do not need in any degree to break down or injure our own domes-
HARRISON'S' SPEECHES. 523
tic industries. We a,re consuming, to an enormous extent, of
tropical products not produced by our people, and by a fair ex-
change with the nations sending us sugar, tea, and coffee we pro-
pose and have entered successfully upon the enterprise of opening
the markets of Central and South America to the manufacturing
establishments of New England and the United States. [Cries of
" Good ! . good !" and applause. ]
I am sure every American will rejoice in the success which has
thus far attended these efforts, and will rejoice that with this ex-
panding trade to the southward there opens before us this year a
largely increased traffic in agricultural products with the nations
of Europe. We have never in the history of our country harvested
such a crop as has now been gathered into the granaries of the
United States. [Applause.] We shall have an enormously large
surplus of breadstuff s for exportation, and it happens that in this
period of our abundance crop failures or shortages in India, in
Russia, in France, in Germany, and England have opened a market
that will require the last bushel of grain we have to sell. [Cries
of " Good ! good !" and applause. ] Rejoicing in the peace that per-
vades our land, proud of institutions which have for more than a
hundred years witnessed their adequacy to give peace and security
at home and to preserve our National honor abroad, rejoicing in
the great increase of material wealth which is flowing in upon us,
may we not on these great lines of enterprise, lifting ourselves now
to newer and larger thoughts of what this country may be, enter
upon these opening avenues of trade and influence upon which are
the beckoning invitations of friendly peoples? [Applause.]
Let me thank you again for this magnificent assemblage of Ver-
mont patriots and of Vermont women, who have shared with her
gallant men the sacrifices and suffering that this State has borne
that it might be born among the States, and, having been admitted
to the sisterhood, might, though small in geographical extent and
population, bear a noble and honorable part in the work of holding
up the American character and defending the American flag.
[Great applause. ]
§24 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
RICHMOND, VERMONT, AUGUST 26.
PRESIDENT HARRISON passed the night at St. Albans.
On his departure, the morning of the 26th, he was accom-
panied by Secretary Proctor, ex-Governor Smith and wife,
Colonel and Mrs. E. C. Smith, Tracy Smith, Hon. H. H.
Powers, Henry R. Start, D. Sage McKay, Col. Geo. T.
Childs, and Col. M. J. Horton, of Governor Page's
staff.
The first stop of the day was at Richmond, where a
large audience greeted the party. Among the prominent
citizens who received the President were: Judge E. B.
Andrews, Hon. U. S. Whitcomb, Capt. G. A. Edwards,
Dr. C. W. Jacobs, Hon. H. A. Hodges, C. P. Rhodes and
Edgar T. Jacobs. The veterans of Bronson Barber Post,
G. A. R., were present in a body.
Congressman Powers introduced the President, who
said :
My Fellow -citizens — It is a little early in the morning to begin
the daily round of speech-making, and yet I cannot refrain from
saying to you how highly I appreciate your morning welcome.
There is the tonic of your fine mountain air and the glory of your
sunshine in these cordial manifestations of your respect and good
will. I hope no American citizen will ever begrudge the President
of the United States the refreshment which comes from these
occasional visits through the country, and from that draught of
good-will which he receives as he looks into the faces and takes the
hands of these good people, who have no other interest in the Gov-
ernment than that it shall be honestly administered for the general
good. Washington is not always full of that kind of people ; we
are more certain, perhaps, to find them in the country. And yet no
one should complain of honest criticism, and perhaps fault-finding
has its use, for occasionally it must be well grounded and disclose
to us errors we might otherwise have failed to discern. But, after
all, the bracing of the good-will of the good people of this country
is very essential to those who, in the midst of great perplexity and
doubt and under staggering responsibility, endeavor as they see
the right to do it. No man can do more than this, and I look upon
this popular feature of our Government, the readiness of communi-
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 525
cation, the nearness and familiarity of access which the people
have with all public servants, as a great safeguard to those who
might otherwise become separated from those impulses which are,
after all, the safest and best. [Applause. ] I have had great
pleasure in passing through your beautiful valley this morning. I
can most sincerely commend what I see in these farms and thrifty
homes. Vermont is a mountain State, and, I suppose, because
your horizon is a little high you are more frequently than we who
live on the plains compelled to look up. That may account for a
great many of the good things which we discover in the New Eng-
land character. I thank you for your kindness. [Applause.]
WATERBURY, VERMONT, AUGUST, 26.
WATERBURY was reached at 10:30 A.M. Governor
Page and Hon. W. W. Grout joined the party here. About
10,000 people were assembled to greet the President, prom-
inent among whom were: G. E. Moody, Esq., Hon. G.
W. Rundall, Hon. E. F. Palmer, M. M. Knight, George
W. Atkins, John Batchelder, L. H. Haines, Justin W.
Moody, C. C. Warren, W. R. Elliott, C. H. Arms, Charles
Wells, Dr. Henry Janes, and F. H. Atherton.
Hon. Wm. Paul Dillingham made the welcoming ad-
dress and introduced the President, who responded as
follows :
My Friends — It is very pleasant to know that a public officer may
travel everywhere through this great land of ours — and only those
who have traversed it can understand how great it is — and find
always his sure defence and care in the good-will and respect of
the people who surround him. If we bar out the irresponsible
crank, so far as I can see the President is in no peril, except that
he may be killed by the superabundant kindness of the people.
[Laughter.] There 'seems to be an impression that his strength
and capacity for speech-making is unfailing [laughter] and that
his arm is a hickory limb. But it is very kind of you and all
these good people of Vermont who have met me on this journey to
express so pleasantly by your cheers, and much more by your
kindly faces, the love and loyalty you have for those in the situa-
tion with which the suffrage of the people has for the time con-
526 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
nected me. The New England character is one that has been much
written about, much discussed, and I think that even those who
have found points for the sharpest criticism have, when they
adopted the Yankee method of averages, concluded that the influences
emanating from Plymouth Rock and diffusing themselves iirst
through the New Hampshire Grants and then the Western Reserve
of Ohio, and so scattering and disseminating the seeds of intelli
gence and love of liberty throughout the whole land, have been
good for the whole country. The New England man is a man with
his eye open everywhere. I have sometimes thought that the habit
of attention, of giving the whole mind to the business in hand,
had its very natural origin and development in New England agri-
culture. The man who holds a plough in a stumpy or stony ground
learns the lesson that he had better give his mind to the business
in hand. [Laughter. ] Otherwise the revenge and punishments for
inattention are so prompt and severe that he is quickly called back
from any mental wanderings into which he may have fallen. I
had occasion to say a moment ago that the fact that the mountain
regions of the world had always furnished the bravest champions of
liberty and the most strenuous defenders of the faith was possibly
owing to the fact that their horizon was so high that if they looked
at all they were compelled to look up. [Laughter and applause. ]
My countrymen, we have a great and happy land — a people
dwelling in happy homes, and that is the origin of government,
and there is the essential of a contented citizenship. As long as
we can preserve this independence and self-respect, and that degree
of comfort in the home that makes it a pleasant abode when the
day's toil is ended, and that enables by the most careful thrift the
head of the household to lay by for the family and to lighten in
some measure the care and labor of the children that are to follow
him, there can be no happier land than ours. If we would per-
petuate and secure that which we have had handed down to us and
which we have so well preserved until this hour, this is the essen-
tial thing.
I thank you for this kindly greeting, and beg you to accept my
sincerest good- will. I can say nothing of public affairs. Every
man called to public office is subject to the infirmities that belong
to our nature — the capacity to make mistakes. He can be, if he is
true, sure of one thing — that in all that he does he has it in his
mind to do the best he can for all the people. [Prolonged cheers.]
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 527
MONTPELIER, VERMONT, AUGUST 26.
A GREAT throng greeted the President's arrival at the
Vermont capital. He was met by a Reception Committee
consisting of 15 prominent citizens: Col. Fred E. Smith,
Hon. Charles Dewey, Prof. J. A. DeBoer, J. C. Houghton,
M. E. Smilie, L. Bart Cross, G. H. Gurnsey, T. C. Phinney,
H. W. Kentp, D. F. Long, C. P. Pitkin, J. W. Brock,
George Wing, F. W. Morse, and Thomas Marvin. The
First Regiment 1ST. G. V., commanded by Adjutant-Gene-
ral Peck, with the Sons of Veterans, escorted the President
and Governor Page to the State House, the former walk-
ing the entire distance with uncovered head, surrounded
by a guard of honor detailed from George Crook Post, G.
A. R. From the Governor's Room they were conducted
to the hall of the House of Representatives, where the
Legislature of Vermont was assembled in joint session.
The members arose and remained standing until the Chief
Magistrate was seated between Governor Page and Lieu-
tenant-Governor Fletcher.
After the applause subsided the Lieutenant-Governor
introduced President Harrison, who addressed the legisla-
tors as follows :
Mr. President and Gentlemen, the Legislature qf the State of Ver-
mont— I am grateful to you for this cordial reception, which crowns
a series of friendly demonstrations which began with my entry
into this good State and have continued to this interesting and
important occasion. I am glad to meet the chosen representatives
of the towns of Vermont, appointed to the discharge of functions of
legislating for the general good. The wisdom of our fathers de-
vised that system of governmental division for the general Gov-
ernment which has found adoption or adaptation in all the States —
the division of the powers of the Government into three great co-
ordinate departments, each independent, and yet having close and
important relations one with the other, and each adapted in the
highest degree to secure the liberty of the individual, the welfare
of our community, and the national honor and prosperity. [Ap-
plause. ] It has been fortunate for us as a people that no serious
528 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
clash has occurred to these great departments. The constitutional
balance and counterbalance have preserved with marvellous exact-
ness, with the perfection of the most perfect machinery, the rela-
tions of these several departments, each doing its appropriate work
and producing the great result which had been intended. Surely
there is no other country where the springs of government are
higher than here. The impulses of our people are drawn from
springs that lie high in the hills of duty and loyalty. They respect
and obey the law, because it is the orderly expression of their own
will. The compact of our Government is a rule by* the majority.
The sanction of all law is that it is the expression by popular
election of the will of a majority of our people. Law has no other
sanction than that with us ; and happy are we, and happy are those
communities where the election methods are so honestly and faith-
fully prescribed and observed that no doubt is thrown upon the
popular expression and no question of the integrity of the ballot is
ever raised. [Applause. ] If we shall ever or anywhere allow a
doubt to settle into the minds of our people whether the results of
our elections are honestly attained, whether the laws made are
framed by those who have been properly chosen by the majoritj',
then all sanction is withdrawn from law and all respect from the
rulers who by a false ballot are placed in public office. [Applause. ]
I am glad to congratulate you upon your constituencies, intelli-
gent, devoted and patriotic. I am glad to congratulate you that
the State of Vermont, from its earliest aspirations and efforts for
liberty and self-government, which developed into your Constitu-
tion in 1777, down through all the story of toil and the struggles
which have beset you as a State, and the vicissitudes which have
beset the country of which you are an honored part, that the State
of Vermont and her sons in the councils of the Nation and on the
blood-stained battle-fields of the great war have borne themselves
worthily. [Applause.] Will you permit me now to thank you
again for this demonstration and for the opportunity to stand for
n moment in your presence? I am sure that we may each, from
this occasion, in the discharge of public duty, draw some impulse
to a more perfect exercise of our powers for the public good. [Ap-
plause. ]
TJie Public Reception.
The speech-making within doors being over, President
Harrison entered a side room, where he received the Tip-
pecanoe Club, shaking hands cordially with all. He was
then conducted to the Governor's Room, where he received
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 520
the members of the Legislature. Meanwhile a great crowd
massed on the beautiful grounds and waited impatiently
for the reappearance of the President. Finally he made
his way from the interior to the front of the Capitol.
Governor Page introduced him. The President spoke as
follows :
Governor Page and Fellow- citizens — This sunshine is as warm as
a Vermont welcome. [Applause. ] It is of the highest quality.
It has life in it. But too much of it is prostrating. [Laughter.]
I have felt, in endeavoring to respond to these calls, that I was
possibly overtaxing my own strength, and perhaps overcnnvding
the Press Association. [Laughter.] I am not naturally a gossip.
I think I had some reputation as a taciturn man, but it is gone.
[Laughter.] I have not given it up willingly. I have struggled to
retain it, but it has been forcefully taken from me by kindness of
my fellow-citizens, whom I have met so frequently within the last
year. Perhaps, however, if I preserve other virtues I can let this
go. [Laughter. ] It is a great thing to be a citizen of the United
States. I would not have you abate at all the love and loyalty you
have for Vermont. But I am glad to know that always in your
history as a State and a people you have felt that the higher honor,
the more glorious estate, was to be a citizen of the United States
of America. [Applause.] This association of States is a geo-
graphical necessity. We can never consent that hostile boundaries
shall be introduced with all that such divisions imply. We must
be one from Maine to California, one from the Lakes to the Gulf
[applause], and everywhere in all that domain we must insist that
the behests of the Federal Constitution and of the laws written in
the Federal statute-book shall be loyally obeyed. [Applause. ] A
statesman of one of the Southern States said to me, with tears in
his eyes, shortly after my inauguration : " Mr. President, I hope
you intend to give the poor people of my State a chance. " I said
in reply : "A chance to do what? If you mean, sir, that they shall
lia^ a chance to nullify any law, and that I shall wink at the
nullification of it, you ask that which you ought not to ask and
that which I cannot consider. [Applause.] If you mean that
obeying every public law and giving to eveiy other man his full
rights under the law and the Constitution, they shall abide in my
respect and in the security and peace of our institutions. Then
they shall have, so far as in my power lies, an equal chance with
all our people. " [Applause. ] We may not choose what laws we
will obey ; the choice is made for us. When a majority have, by
530 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
lawful methods, placed a law upon the statute-book, we may en
deavor to repeal it, we may challenge its wisdom, but while it is
the law it challenges our obedience. [Applause. ]
I thank you for the kindliness of this greeting in this capital of
Vermont. I wish for you and your gallant State and for all your
people in all their good, God-fearing homes continuance of that
personal liberty, that material prosperity, that love of the truth
which has always characterized them. [Applause.]
PLAINFIELD, VERMONT, AUGUST 26.
AT Montpelier the President's party was joined by Hon.
F. A. Dwinnel, Gen. F. E. Alfred, Gen. W. H. Gilmore, V.
R. Sartwell, W. A. Stowell, Col. H. E. Folsom, Fletcher
D. Proctor, Frank C. Partridge; also, E. W. Smith and
John Bailey, of Newbury.
The first stop in the afternoon was at Plainfield, where
1 , 000 people gave the President a cordial greeting. Among
the leading citizens participating in the reception were :
Joseph Lane, George D. Kidder, Leroy F. Fortney, E. J.
Bartlett, H. E. Cutler, Henry Q. Perry, D. B. Smith, H.
G. Moore, John A. Fass, Ira F. Page, Nelson Shorey, H.
W. Batchelder, and W. B. Page. W. E. Martin Post, G.
A. R. , H. H. Hollister Commander, occupied a conspicuous
position.
President Harrison was introduced by Senator Dwinnel,
and said :
My Fellow -citizens and Comrades — For I see here, as everywhere,
some of those who wore the blue and carried the flag in the great
Civil War gathered to greet me. It gives me pleasure to stojMor
a moment and to thank you for the friendliness which has brought
you from your homes to make this journey bright with your pres-
ence and cordial welcome. I have been talking so much to-day
that I will not attempt to make a speech. I have already said a
great deal about Vermont, have expressed my esteem for it and
for its people, and all that. I have been very sincere, for I think
that your State does hold a veiy high place among the States.
Your sons, who have gone out to represent you and to take part
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 531
in those stirring enterprises which have laid the foundations of
new States, have already borne themselves with honor and with
true New England thrift, obtaining in the long run the full share
of all the good things that were going. I met some of them in
California. They are scattered this broad land over, and I think
they carry with them everywhere the love of the flag, respect for
law and order, love of liberty and of education, and interest in all
those things that make the communities wyhere they abide prosper-
ous and happy. I think I owe a special debt to this neighborhood
for a pair of good Vermont horses that Secretary Proctor selected
for me, and in the driving of which I have had great relaxation
and pleasure. Your Vermont horses are well trained. The Morgan
horse has the good habit of entering into consultation with the
driver whenever there is any trouble. [Laughter and applause.]
ST. JOHNSBURY, VERMONT, AUGUST 26.
BRIEF stops were made at Wells River, Mclndoes, and
Barnet, and the President cordially thanked the people at
each place. St. Johnsbury, where great preparations were
made to welcome the distinguished guest, was reached at
4 30 P.M.
The President's party headed a procession which moved
through the principal streets over a distance of two miles.
The guard of honor consisted of 300 mounted veterans
with drawn swords. The following prominent citizens
met the President: Col. Franklin Fairbanks, Hon. Jona-
than Ross, Chief Justice of Vermont, and Mrs. Ross ; Rev.
Dr. C. M. Lamson, L. D. Hazen, A. H. McLeod, Charles
T. JValter, Hon. H. H. Powers, Col. Frederick Fletcher,
H. H. Carr, C. H. Stevens, E. H. Blossom, S. H. Brackett,
Lucius K. Hazen, Osborne Chase, George H. Cross, N. P.
Bowman, Albert Worcester, H. I. Woods, Dr. G. B. Bul-
lard, A. F. Walker, C. P. Carpenter, N. R. Switser, F. A.
Carter, L. W. Fisher, J. B. Gage, C. H. Horton, L. K
Smythe, and Wm. H. Sargent. An incident of the parade
was the reception by the school children. The President's
532 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
carriage halted and several hundred of the children, led
by H. H. May, rendered "America," at the conclusion of
which six pretty little girls — Misses May Masten, Lala
McNeil, Marian Moore, Lottie Holder, Beatrice May, and
Emma May — stepped forward and presented a beautiful
floral key, thus tendering the freedom of the city to the
illustrious guest. The President reviewed the procession
f rom " Undercliffe, " the stately residence of Colonel and
Mrs. Fairbanks, whose guest he was.
At night the town was brilliantly illuminated, and 10,-
000 residents gathered in the public park. Colonel Fair-
banks made the welcoming address and introduced the
President, who received an ovation and spoke as follows :
My Fellow -citizens — I could wish that I were in better voice and
in full strength, that I might better respond to this most magnifi-
cent demonstration. I have rarely looked upon a scene more cal-
culated to inspire a patriot than this upon which my eye rests to-
night. I do most profoundly thank you for this great welcome.
The taste and beauty and elaboration of these preparations exceed
anything that I have looked upon in this journey. [Applause.] I
am sure you are here to-night after making all this preparation to
give witness by your presence of your love to the flag of our coun-
try [applause] and to those institutions of civil government and
of liberty which that flag represents. [Applause ] It gives me great
pleasure to see that the flag is everywhere. I journeyed across this
continent, and, except when darkness shut in the landscape, I was
never out of sight of the American flag. [Applause. ] On those
wide plains of the West, once called the Great American Desert,
now and again, in the home of some adventurous settler, the flag
appeared and was waved in greeting as our train sped on its way.
1 rejoiced to see it everywhere in the sight of school children. On
that great demonstration in New York in observance of the cen
tennial of the inauguration of Washington, as I moved from the
Battery up through those streets dedicated to commerce, I saw
every front covered with flags, hiding for the time those invita-
tions to trade which covered their walls. The thought occurred to
me, What will be done with these flags when this celebration is
over? And it occurred to me to suggest at the centennial banquet
that the flags should be taken into our school -houses. [Applause.]
I rejoice to know that everywhere throughout the land, in all our
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 533
patriotic towns and villages, movements are being inaugurated to
display the American flag over our institutions of learning.
I have several times been brought in contact \vith incidents
showing this love of the flag. I remember that when Hood was
investing Nashville, and when that gallant, sturdy, unostentatious,
but always faithful and victorious leader, Gen. George H. Thomas,
was gathering the remnants of an army that he might confront his
adversary in battle, it was assigned to me to intrench through the
beautiful grounds of a resident in the suburbs of Nashville. The
proprietor was a Tennessee Unionist. While I was digging and
tearing the sod of his beautiful lawn, he was removing his library
and other valuables from his mansion, for it was within easy range
of the rebel fire. Happening into his library while he was thus
engaged, he opened a closet below the book -shelf, and, taking out
a handsome bunting, asked me whether I had a garrison flag. I
told him no. "Well," he said, "take this. Sir, I have never been
without the American flag in my house. " [Applause. ] I would
be glad if that could be said by every one of our people. There is
inspiration in it. It has a story wrought into its every fold until
every thread has some lesson to tell of sacrifice and heroism. It is
the promise of all that we hope for. It is to it and about it that
we must gather and hold the affections of our people if these insti-
tutions are to be preserved. I have it in my mind as I saw it one
night in Newport harbor. Going out of that harbor upon a Gov-
ernment vessel about midnight, when the heavens were darkened
clouds, I saw a sight that lives fresh in my memory. The officers
of the torpedo station had run up the Starry Banner upon the staff,
and turned upon it as we moved out of the harbor two great elec-
tric search -lights. It revealed the banner, while the staff and
buildings below it were all hidden in the blackness. I could see
it as if it had been hung out of the battlements of heaven, lifting
its folds in the darkness of night, a glorified emblem of the hope
of a free people. [Applause. ] Let us keep it thus in our hearts ;
let no other flag be borne in our marching processions. We have
no place for the red flag of anarchy. [Applause. ] This emblem
typifies a free people, who have voluntarily placed themselves under
the restraints of the law, who have consented that individual
liberty shall cease where it infringes upon the right or property
of another. This is our contract. This is the liberty which we
offer those who cast in their lot with us, not a liberty to destroy,
but a liberty to conserve and perpetuate. [Cheers. ]
I am most happy to \vitness in this prosperous New England
town so many evidences that your community is intelligent, in-
534 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
dustrious, enterprising, and your people lovers of home and order.
You have here some great manufacturing establishments, whose
fame and products have spread throughout the world. You have
here a class of enterprising, public- spirited citizens, who are build-
ing these free libraries and galleries of art and are ministering to
the good of generations that are to come. You have here an intel-
ligent and educated class of skilled workmen, and nothing pleased
me more as I passed through your streets to-day than to be told
that here and there were the homes of the working people of St.
Johnsbury [applause] — homes where every evidence of comfort was
apparent , homes where taste has been brought to make attractive
the abodes where tired men sought rest ; homes that must have
been made sweet for the children that are reared there, and com-
fortable for the wives whose place of toil and responsibility it is.
Here is the anchor of our safety. This is the state that binds men
to good order, to good citizenship, to the flag of the Constitution,
a contented and prosperous working class. [Applause. ] I will
not cross any lines of division in my remarks to night, for this
reception is general ; but I will venture to say that all our public
policy, all our legislation, may wisely keep in view the end of
perpetuating an independent, contented, prosperous and hopeful
working class in America. [Applause. ] When hope goes out of
the heart and life becomes so hard that it is no longer sweet, men
are not safe neighbors and they are not good citizens. Let us,
then, in cheerful, loving, Christian good neighborhood see that the
blessings of our institutions, the fruits of labor, have that fair
distribution that shall bring contentment into our homes. [Ap-
plause. ]
But, my countrymen, I did not intend to speak even so long. I
wish it were in my power to make some adequate return for the
generous welcome you have given me. I am not a man of promises.
I abhor pretension, but every such assembly as this that I see — this
great cup of good-will which you put to my lips — gives me strength
to do what I can for our country and for you. [Applause. ]
HARRISONS SPEECHES. 535
BILLINGS PARK, AUGUST 27.
WHEN the presidential party left St. Johnsbury on the
morning of the 27th, they were joined by Hon. A. A. Wool-
son, C. S. Forbes, ex-Governor Farnham, and ex-Senator
Pingree. At White River Junction the President's car
was switched to a siding running to Billings Park, where
the Vermont Association of Road and Trotting Horse
Breeders was holding its annual exhibition. Senator
Merrill, Col. Geo. W. Hooker, and Capt. A. W. Davis ac-
companied the party to the park, where carriages con-
veyed them over the grounds. A large crowd was present.
Col. Hooker, as President of the Association, introduced
President Harrison, who said :
Colonel Hooker and Fellow- citizens— -I have been called upon to
address my fellow- citizens under many diverse and some very
peculiar circumstances, but I think that those that surround me
this morning are absolutely unique. I understood that in the pro-
gramme Secretary Proctor had arranged for a day of pleasure here
at this horse fair, and that a more attractive entertainment was to
be provided for you and for me than speech-making. I am not well
up in the rules of the track, but I suppose on a morning like this
some allowance will be made for a heavy track, and if the horses
are entitled to it I think I may claim an allowance myself.
[Laughter.] Therefore, I have only to thank you for the friend-
liness of your reception and to express my interest in this great
industry which is represented here — the breeding of horses. I
understand that it was so arranged that, after I had seen the flower
of the manhood and womanhood of Vermont, 1 should be given an
exhibition of the next grade in intelligence and worth in the
State — your good horses [Applause.] I have had recently,
through the intervention of the Secretary of War, the privilege
of coming into possession of a pair of Vermont horses. They are
all I could wish for, and, as I said the other day at the little village
from which they came, they are of good Morgan stock, of which
some one has said that their great characteristic was that they
enter into consultation with the driver whenever there is any diffi-
culty. [Laughter and applause.] Thanking you again, I hope
you will give me the allowance to which a heavy track entitles
me. [Applause.]
536 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
BRADFORD, VERMONT, AUGUST 27.
AT Bradford 1,000 people assembled to do honor to the
President, who arrived at 10 A.M. The visitors were es-
corted to a platform near the station. Among the promi-
nent residents who welcomed the Chief Executive were
H. E. Parker, Judge S. M. Gleason, Roswell Farnham,
John H. Watson, Dr. J. H. Jones, and L. J. Brown.
Ex- Governor Farnham introduced the President, who
spoke as follows :
Ladies and Gentlemen — I will only say a few words to thank
you for this welcome which is extended to me this morning, and
which it seems to me furnishes some proof of your well wishes and
kindly feelings I have had a journey through Vermont that will
be very pleasant in my recollection, although attended with some
instances of an unpleasant nature. As I understood the purpose of
this trip when I gave my assent to it at the request of your excellent
fellow citizen, whom you kindly loaned me for a little while, and
are now, as far as I can see, about to reclaim, the trip was to be
one of relaxation, and to visit him and some of his friends. It
seems to me that the circle has been enlarged beyond the limit of
his friends, and if not that they include the whole of the people of
Vermont It is very pleasant to pass through your enterprising
manufacturing towns, and to see this rural population, which,
after all, is the foundation of all State organizations, which are
based upon the farms of old New England. The farm has been,
perhaps, one of the most productive measures toward the enrich-
ment of this country in things that are greater than the material
things — in manhood, valor in warfare, and statesmanship in politi •
cal life. It has been a matter of great pleasure to me as we have
driven through the streets of these cities, from Bennington until
this time, to observe one thing. As we pass by your streets I have
seen some aged father or mother or grandfather or grandmother
placed in a position for best observation and kindly attended by
some member of the family, showing that family love, that venera-
tion for the aged, that has, to me, been a source of particular
gratification. For, after all, the home is the beginning and centre
of all good things The life of our Nation is learned in the first
rudiments of government at home and that lesson of veneration
for things that are good. With these elements I think you are
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 537
sure to make the career of Vermont not greater in temporary
things, but greater in those things which are more productive to
the Nation and to mankind. [Prolonged cheers. ]
WINDSOR, VERMONT, AUGUST 27.
IT was raining when the President arrived at Windsor,
at 1 P.M. He was met by Senator William M. Evarts,
accompanied ^y Hon. C. C. Beaman, of New York; Hon.
Chester Pike, of Cornish, N. H., and the following prom-
inent citizens, comprising the local Committee of Recep-
tion: Col. Marsh O.Perkins, D wight Tuxbury, Hon. G.
A.Davis, Dr. C. P. Holden, Dr. J. S. Richmond, .U. L.
Coinings, George T. Low, 'Hon. Rollin Amsden, E. C.
Howard, Charles H. Fitch, O. L. Patrick, Rev. E. N. God-
dard, S. K Stone, S. R. Bryant, J. M. Howe, George T.
Hazen, S. M. Blood, S. E. Hoisington, Horace Weston,
A. E. Houghton, A. J. Hunter, Allen Dudley, Dr. Deane
Richmond, J. R. Brewster, A. D. Cotton, G. R. Guernsey,
Charles K Adams, Col. M. K. Paine, H. W. Stocker,
George M. Stone, Harvey Miller, George T. Winn, and"
C. D. Penniman.
After partaking of luncheon at the residence of Senator
and Mrs. Evarts, the President was conducted to the Town
Hall, and, being introduced to the assemblage by Colonel
Perkins, he spoke as follows :
My Fellow -citizens— I am about completing a very pleasant trip
through the State of Vermont — a trip which, while not the first,
has furnished the only occasion on which 1 have really been brought
in contact with the people of your State. My previous journeys
were those of a summer tourist, snatching these fine and attractive
views as we sped along some of your lines of railway, but getting
little impression of the character of the people who occupy these
towns and rural homesteads. It has given me great pleasure on
this occasion to receive at the hands of your people everywhere a
most cordial reception. It has been a source of constant regret to
me that I am able on such occasions as we have here this afternoon
538 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
to make so small a return for the care, preparation, and friendly
interest which the people manifest. I am under such limitations
as to them and about which I may talk that the fertility of a very
rich and highly cultivated mind and imagination would be neces-
sary to furnish one with something new or interesting to say in
response to the repeated calls. I have supposed that all of these
meetings were expressions of patriotism and of popular interest in
a Government which Mr. Lincoln so felicitously described as " a
government of the people, by the people, for the people. " [Ap-
plause. ] It is pleasant to have the personal esteem and respect of
my fellow- citizens, but I have not thought of appropriating to my-
self these demonstrations. It is very gratifying t« see a people in
love with their civil institutions and with that glorious flag which
typifies our diversity and our unity. [Applause. ] I have said
before that it seemed to me this is the essential element and base
of every republican government, that the loyalty and love of the
people sliould be given to our institutions and not to men. [Ap-
plause. ] I think it is one element of discord and unhappiness in
some of our sister republics that the minds of these patriotic and
generous people are too much swayed by their admiration for men,
that they are often swept away from the moorings of principle by
the love of a leader. I have rejoiced to find everywhere in the
State of Vermont what seemed to me to be a deep-seated, earnest
patriotism. [Applause. ] It is to be hoped that we may not soon
have any call for such manifestations as you have given in the
past on the battle-fields from Bennington to the surrender of Appo-
matox. [Cheers. ]
It is pleasant to be here to-day at the home of my esteemed friend
and your fellow -townsman, the Hon. William M. Evarts. [Ap-
plause. ] I am glad that he has introduced into Vermont model
farming [laughter and applause], and has shown you what the
income of a large city law practice can do in the fertilization of a
farm. [Laughter and applause. ] He has assured me to-day that
his farm yields a net income. I accept the statement of my host
with absolute faith — and yet Mr. Evart's reputation as a bookkeeper
is not the best in the world. [Laughter and applause.] It is
pleasant to see him and to be for a while in his genial presence,
and to have this journey illuminated by a visit to his home. I
hope he may dwell long with you in peace and honor, as he will
always dwell in the honor and esteem of our whole people.
[Applause. ]
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 530
CHARLESTOWN, NEW HAMPSHIRE, AUGUST 27.
NOTWITHSTANDING the heavy downpour, 1,000 or more
sturdy citizens of historic old Charlestown welcomed the
President to New Hampshire. The Reception Committee
consisted of Hon. George Olcott, George S. Bond, Frank
Finnigan, Col. Samuel Webber, Herbert W. Bond, and
Frank W. Hamlin. Lincoln Post, G. A. R., Lyman F.
Partridge Commander, also participated in the reception.
Colonel Webber delivered an eloquent address of welcome.
The President, responding, said :
Colonel Webber and Fellow -citizens — I think it might be said to-
day that New Hampshire has " gone wet, " as they say when the
election returns come in on a. vote against prohibition. I am very
much obliged to you for this extraordinary manifestation of your
interest, for to stand in this downpour of rain is certainly an evi •
dence that you have a most friendly interest in this little party of
tourists, who touch in a journey through Vermont the mainspring
of the State of New Hampshire. I have been talking about Ver-
mont for the last two or three days, but if you will take the pains,
in the comfort of your own homesteads, to read all the good things
I have said about Vermont, and then understand that they are all
said of New Hampshire, it will abbreviate my speech and will be
expressive of my opinion of that sturdy, enterprising, masterful
New England character which you share with them. [Applause. ]
BELLOWS FALLS, VERMONT, AUGUST 27.
WHEN the train arrived at Bellows Falls, the rain was
pouring in torrents and the President was conducted to the
Opera House by the veterans of E. H. Stoughton Post,
G. A. R. The Committee of Reception consisted of Hon.
Wm. A. Russell, Hon. A. N. Swain, Judge L. M. Read,
Barnes Cannon, Jr., Wyman Flint, John T. Moore, C.
W. Osgood, Thomas E. O'Brien, George H. Babbitt, and
Capt. Walter Taylor, the latter a veteran of eighty years,
540 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
who marshalled the hosts for Gen. Wm. Henry Harrison
in 1836 and '40. The building was packed.
Mr. Swain introduced President Harrison, who said :
My Fellow -citizens — I will wait a moment until they turn out the
footlights. They put a barrier between us, and I always prefer to
get my light from above. [Applause. ] We can only tarry in this
busy city a few moments. The inclement character of the day has
driven us to shelter, and the finding of a shelter has consumed
some small part of the allotment of time which our schedule gives
to you. I greatly appreciate the value and importance of these
manufacturing centres, which are now, fortunately for us, not
characteristic of New England alone, but are found west of the
Ohio and of the Mississippi and of the Missouri. I am one of those
who believe that in a diversification of pursuits we make most
rapid increase in wealth and attain best social relations and devel-
opment. I am one of those who believe that Providence did not
set apart the United States to be a purely agricultural region,
furnishing its surplus to supply the lack of other people of the
world while they do all the manufacturing for us. I think there
are suggestions in our very geographical position, and a great
many of them in our history and experience, that we may well
desire and reach for that condition in which we shall raise our owrn
food and in which a manufacturing class, withdrawn from agri-
culture and other pursuits, shall furnish the farmer a market for
his surplus near to his fields and gardens, while he exchanges with
the farmer the products of the shop and the loom.
I would not introduce politics. I do not intend to cross any
lines of division, but I think we all agree, though we may differ as
to the means by which it is to be done, that the nearer together the
producer and the consumer can be brought the less waste there is
in transportation and the greater the wealth. [Applause. ] It is
known to you all that our 65,000,000 people furnish per capita a
larger market than any other like number of people. This grows
out of the fact that our capacity for purchasing is larger than is
found in those countries where poverty holds a larger sway. The
workingman buys more, has more to buy with in America than in
any other land in the world. [Applause. ] I mentioned the other
day at St. Albans that this was the era of the battle for a market
The whole world is engaged in it. The thought was suggested to
me by a sentence in the address of President Bartlett at the observ-
ance of the centennial of the battle of Bennington in 1877. He says .
"Trading Manchester furnished two regiments to Burgoyne to con-
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 541
quer a market. " The foreign policy of the United States has never
been selfish. There has always been, if you will trace it through the
struggles of Greece and of our South American neighbors for inde-
pendence and a free Government, a brave, generous tone of sym-
pathy with struggling people the world round in our diplomatic
policy. I think we may well challenge comparison with the
foreign policy of any other great Government in the world in this
regard. It has never been our policy to push our trade forward at
the point of the bayonet. We have always believed that it should
be urged upon the ground of mutual advantage ; and upon this
ground alone are we now endeavoring, by every means in our power,
to open the markets of our sister republics in Central and South
America to the products of American shops and farmers. [Ap-
plause. ]
We do not covet their territory. The day of filibustering aggres-
sion has gone by in the United States. We covet their good will.
We wish for them settled institutions of government, and we
desire those exchanges that are mutually profitable. We have
found that we were receiving from some of these countries enormous
annual imports of sugar, coffee, and hides, and we have now placed
these articles on the free list upon the condition that they give to
the products of the United States fair reciprocity. [Applause. ] If
our own laws, or any aggressive .movement we are making for a
larger share in the commerce of the world, should excite the com-
mercial jealousy and rivalry of other countries we shall not com-
plain if those rivalries find only proper expressions. We have
come to a time in our development as a Nation when I believe that
interest on money is low enough for us to turn some of our
accumulated capital from the railways into steam transportation
on the sea ; that the time has come when we shall recover a full
participation in the carrying trade of the world, when under the
American flag steamships shall carry our products to neighboring
markets and bring back their exchange to our harbors. Larger
foreign markets for the products of our farms and of our factories
and a larger share in the carrying trade of the world, peaceful rela-
tions with all mankind, with naval and coast defences that will
silently make an effective argument on the side of peace, are the
policies that I would pursue. [Applause. ]
542 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
BRATTLEBORO, VERMONT, AUGUST 27.
JUST before the train reached Brattleboro the rain ceased,
and the President rode in a procession to the house of Col.
J. J. Estey. The Committee of Reception consisted of
Colonel Estey, Col. Kittredge Haskins, Dr. H. D. Holton,
N. I. Hawley, F. W. Childs, ex-Governor Holbrook, Judgo
Wheeler, Hon. B. D. Harris, Hon. J. L. Martin, E. C. Cros-
by, Judge R. W. Clarke, C. F. Thompson, Col. W. C. Hol:
brook, George S. Dowley, Colonel Fuller, Dr. Conland, Dr.
Ketchum, and G. A. Hines. Veterans of the G. A. R.,
and the Estey Guard, escorted the Chief Executive through
the city. Several thousand were assembled on the grounds.
Colonel Estey welcomed and presented the President,
who made the following address :
My Fellow citizens — Governor Proctor held out to me the sugges-
tion that this trip to Vermont would be a very restful one. He
has the queerest appreciation of what rest means of any man I
know. [Laughter. ]
When I attended the centennial demonstration of the inaugura-
tion of Washington in New York, I spent part of one day on the
bridge of the Despatch bowing to the fleet in the bay as we moved
down to the Battery, and the balance of the day shaking hands at
the City Hall, attending a ball a.t night ; ten hours the next day
reviewing a procession, with a banquet at night ; and about as
many hours the day following reviewing the civic procession ; and
when released from the stand about 5 o'clock in the evening I
hurried to the Jersey City depot to take the train, scarcely able to
stand upon my feet. One of the gentlemen of the committee said
to me- "Well, Mr. President, I hope you have enjoyed these three
days of rest in New York.-" [Laughter. ]
I wish I could see you more satisfactorily than I am able to do
on a hurried trip like this, but Governor Proctor kept me up very
late last night, and he was the last man down to breakfast this
morning himself.
All that I have seen in your State has but increased the respect
I have always entertained for your people. My recent journey of
somewhat great length through the country has very deeply im-
pressed upon me the fact of the unity of our people. The building
&ARRISOWS SPEECHES. 543
Df these great railroad lines making every part of every State
familiar, and stretching across the continent so as to bring within
easy access the most distant parts of our country, has had a great
tendency to unify our people and to wipe out whatever there was
provincial or local in our character. It has rubbed off some of the
edges of the New England character, and has rubbed on some of the
New England polish upon the West. In fact, wherever we have
any combining, nothing makes it homogeneous -except a thorough
mixer, and the American people have certainly had a most thorough
mixing. [Cheers. ]
One of your war Governors was saying to me to-day, as we came
along in the train, your own distinguished fellow-citizen, that on
a journey West not long ago everywhere Vermont men came to
meet him ; and as I went recently across the continent the railroad
train scarcely stopped at any station that some one from Indiana
did not reach up his hand and claim recognition ; and so it is in
all the States.
The West is now turning a little back toward -the East, and I
have found some people, who probably had some ancestral connec-
tion with New England, but whose- birth, early residence, and busi-
ness life were in the West, who have come back to the old home.
All this is pleasant, all this is surety of the future of our country.
It is pleasant to know that the South is being obliterated, that all
that made it distinctive in the sense of separation or alienation is
being gradually wiped out. [Applause. ]
Of course, the prejudices of generations are not like marks upon
the blackboard, that can be rubbed out with a sponge. These are
more like the deep glacial lines that the years have left in the rock ;
but the water, when that surface is exposed to its quiet, gentle, and
perpetual influence, wears even these out, until the surface is
smooth and uniform. And so these influences are at work in our
whole country, and we should be hopeful for it, hopeful for its
future. I am sure you each feel pride in your American citizen
ship, and would show readiness to defend it in war, and I am sure
that from every class of your community would come the response :
"We will maintain it, honorable and high, in peace."
I thank you most sincerely for your friendly greeting, and regret
that I am not able to speak to you more satisfactorily, and can only
accept with a heart full of appreciation these marks of your respect.
[ Applause. ]t
544 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
RUTLAND, VERMONT, AUGUST 28.
THE President and his party were guests of Secretary
Proctor on the night of the 27th, at the village of Proctor, in
the Green Mountains. The morning of the 28th, the party
visited Rutland, and were met by the local Reception Com-
mittee: J. C. Baker, H. H. Dyer, W. G. Veazey, ex-
Judge Barrett, J. W. Cramton, Dr. J. D. Hanrahan, C.
H. Joyce, J. N. Woodfin, E. P. Gilson, P. W. Clement,
George E. Lawrence, Henry F. Field, John N". Baxter, P.
M. Meldon, John A. Sheldon, George J. Wardwell, Dr.
Norman Seaver, and Henry Carpenter, President of the
village.
Arrived at Memorial Hall the President was greeted by
a large assemblage, including many ladies. He was pre-
sented by Colonel Baker and made the following address :
My Fellow citizens and Comrades of the Grand Army of the Re-
public— It gives me great pleasure this morning, tired as I am, to
see and to have an opportunity to express my thanks to this large
assemblage of the good citizens of Rutland. My journey through
your State lias been attended with every evidence of respect which
it was possible for the people to bestow. Your chairman has
spoken of the fact that the President of the United States may
travel everywhere through our country without any attendance of
policemen. As I have had occasion to say before, the only peril
he is likely to meet, if the railroads take good care of him and the
cranks keep out of the way, is from the over-kindness of the people
[laughter and applause] ; and there is more peril in that than you
will understand at first thought. It is pleasant to stand upon the
steps of this Memorial Hall, erected as a place of deposit for
trophies of the great Civil War and as a monument of honor to
those soldiers from Vermont who aided so conspicuously in making
that war successful. We cannot tell how much hung upon that
contest. No orator lias yet been inspired to describe adequately
the gravity of the great issue which was fought out upon the battle-
fields of the War of the Rebellion. We say it was- a contest to
preserve the unity of our republic, and so it was ; but what dis-
memberment would have meant : how greatly it would have
increased the cost of government : how sadly it would have dis-
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 545
turbed the plan of our border communities ; how it would have
degraded in the eyes of the world this great people ; how it would
have rejoiced the enemies of popular government, no tongue has
yet adequately described. But it was not to be so. God has desired
that this experiment of free government should have a more per-
fect trial, and it was impossible that the brave men of the loyal
States should consent to dismemberment of the Union. We were
very patient, so patient, in the early contest, as it ranged through
the great debate of convention and Congress that our brethren of
the South altogether mistook the temper of our people, Un-
doubtedly there were evidences that the men of trade were reluctant
to have those lines of profitable communication, which had been
so long maintained with the South, broken off. Undoubtedly that
character so undesirable in our politics — the doughface — was par-
ticularly conspicuous in those days of discussion, but we were
altogether misjudged when the people of the South concluded that
they might support their threats of disunion which had so long
rung in Congress, and so long filled their boasting press, by force
of arms.
I shall never forget, nor will any of you who are old enough to
remember it, that great electric thrill and shock which passed
through our whole country when the first gun was fired at Sum-
ter. Debate was closed. Our orators were withdrawn, and a great
wave of determined patriotism swept over the country higher than
any tidal wave ever lifted itself upon a devastated coast [applause],
and it was not to be stayed in its progress until the last vestige of
rebellion had been swept from the face of our beloved laud. The
men of New England were a peaceful people. The farmers and
the farmers' sons were not brawlers. They were not found at the
tavern. They were abiding under the sheltering moral influences
and quietude of these New England hills. But the man who thought
that the spirit of 1776 had been quenched was badly mistaken.
The same resolute love of liberty, the same courage to face danger
for a cause that had its inspiration in high moral purposes and
resolves abided in the hearts of your people. [Applause.] Possibly
the war might have been avoided if the South had understood this,
but it was so written in the severe but benevolent purposes of God.
There was a great scroll of emancipation to be written. There was
a martyr President, who was to affix his name to a declaration that
would be as famous as that to which your fathers fixed their signa-
ture in 1776. It was to be in truth as well as in theory a free
people [applause], and there was no other pathway to emancipa-
tion than along the bloody track of armies, not seeing at the be-
35
546 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
ginning nor having the purpose that finally was accomplished, but
guided by the hand of power and wisdom that is above us and
over us to the accomplishment of that glorious result that struck
the shackles from four millions of slaves. [Applause. ]
I greet most affectionately these comrades of the war who aro
before me to-day. Let them abide in honor in all your communi-
ties. Let shafts of marble and bronze lift themselves in all your
towns to tell the story of patriots' work well done and to teach
the generations that are to come how worthy their fathers were.
Let us preserve all these inspiring lessons of history, all these
individual examples of heroism, of which Vermont furnished so
many during the war Let them not be forgotten. Let them be
the illuminated and inspiring pages of your State's histoiy, and
then, whatever shock may come to us in the future, whenever
the hand of anarchy or disorder shall be raised, whenever foreign
powers shall seek to invade the rights or liberties of this great
people, there will be found again an impenetrable bulwark in the
brave hearts of a sturdy and patriotic people. [Applause.] You
will, I am sure, crown your kindness by excusing me from attempt-
ing further speech and allowing me to express, as I part from you,
my good wishes for Vermont and all her good people. [Applause.]
PROCTOR, VERMONT, AUGUST 28.
ON the return to Proctor in the evening the President
was tendered the final reception of his trip to Vermont.
The village was elaborately decorated; an illuminated
evergreen arch spanned the entrance to Secretary Proctor's
beautiful grounds. The residences and grounds of E. R.
Morse, F. D. Proctor, B. F. Taylor, W. E. Higbee, G. H.
Davis, E. J. Boyce, J. H. Edson, and H. E. Spencer were
also brilliantly illuminated. From a platform fronting the
Secretary's home the party reviewed the procession of
1,000 workmen from the marble quarries.
Secretary Proctor, in an affectionate address, introduced
President Harrison, who spoke as follows :
It is not my privilege to call you neighbors, but I am sure I may
call you friends. This journey in Vermont is crowned to-night by
a reception and a good -by that is surpassingly brilliant and artis-
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 547
•
tic ill its preparation and one that I have never seen exceeded.
But above all this, I have been able here in Proctor to witness in
its best manifestation that which I have seen elsewhere in New
England and especially in Vermont — a community of workers,
men industriously pursuing mechanical avocations and doing it
under conditions of the greatest possible comfort. As I look upon
these homes in which you dwell and contrast them with the
wretchedness of the crowded tenement-houses of our great cities ;
as I inhale to-night the bracing air of these mountains, and as my
eye has looked to-day upon their green summits, I have said how
happy is the lot of that man and that woman who work in one of
these bright, wholesome New England villages. [Applause.] It
has seemed to me that the relation of our mutual friend who has
inaugurated and developed these works in which many of you find
employment was that of a public benefactor and a personal friend.
[Applause.] The simplicity and naturalness of his own life among
you, his ready appreciation of the loyalty and intelligence of those
who are employed by him, his interest in their success in life, is
the ideal relation between the employer and his workmen. [Ap-
plause.] I wrould to God it was always and everywhere so, that
when a man is put at a machine he should not be regarded by his
employer as a part of it, that the human nature, the aspirations of
a man, should still be recognized, and the relations with the em-
ployer be that of mutual confidence and helpfulness and respect !
[Applause. ]
You are sharers in the responsibilities of local government, of
the government of your State and of the Nation, of which Vermont
is one of the honored members. I am sure that you have pride in
the faithful discharge of all these duties. I cannot but feel that
our national policy should be in the direction of saving our work-
ing people from that condition of hopelessness which comes when
wages are barely adequate to the sustenance of animal life. [Ap-
plause. ] There is no hope for any community where this state of
things exists, and there will be no hope for the Nation should it
become the general condition of the workingmen of America. That
man or woman out of whose heart hope has gone, who sees nothing
better in life, before whom the vista of life stretches in one dead
level of unending and half-requited toil, that man's estate is calcu-
lated to make him reckless in character. It is one of the benef-
icent conditions of citizenship here that there are no disabilities
put in the way of ambitions and the aspiring. I hope it may
always be so. I cannot always sympathize with that demand
which we hear so frequently for cheap things. Things may be too
548 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
cheap. They are too cheap when the man who produces them upon
the farm or the man or woman who produces them in the factory
does not get out of them living wages with a margin for old age
and for a dowry for the incidents that are to follow. [Applause.]
I pity that man who wants a coat so cheap that the man or woman
who produces the cloth or shapes it into a garment shall starve in
the process. [Applause. ]
I am most profoundly grateful to you, my fellow-citizens, and
to my good friend Governor Proctor, for this beautiful demonstra-
tion— this magnificent rural welcome which we have had here to-
day. It will live always in my memory. I shall carry this
community in my thoughts as one of the best types of American
neighborhood life. I have found in him a most valuable contri-
bution to the administration of the Government at Washington.
[Applause.] You cannot know fully how he has grown into the
respect and confidence of all who have been associated with him
in the Cabinet and of all our legislators in Congress without dis-
tinction of party, I regret that there is some danger that you may
reclaim him for Vermont [applause] ; yet it is quite natural that
it should be so, and I shall do the best I can to get a substitute.
The labors of public office at Washington are full of high responsi-
bility and most burdensome toil. No man is endowed with an
incapacity to make mistakes. We can, however, all of us, in pub-
lic or private trust, be sure of our motives. These are our own.
We can know whether we are pursuing low and selfish ends or
have set before us the general good, the highest good of all our
people. Judgment upon what has been done is with you. I am
sure only that I have had it in my heart to do that which should
in the highest degree promote the prosperity of our people and lift
the glorious flag yet higher in the esteem of the world. [Great
applause.] We have been endeavoring to open a foreign market
for American trade. If these efforts are met, as I trust they will
be, by enterprise on the part of our merchants and manufacturers,
I do not doubt that the next ten years will see a most gratifying
increase in our foreign trade. [Applause.] They should diligently
set themselves to the study of the new markets into which their
goods may now go. The most intelligent representatives should be
sent there, and their goods adapted to the market that is to be
supplied. This I have no doubt they will do, and I add the expec-
tation that we shall presently have a most gratifying increase in
the American merchant marine. [Applause. ]
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 549
WASHINGTON, SEPTEMBER 17, 1891.
The Augusta Exposition.
PRESIDENT HARRISON on the above date received at the
Executive Mansion a delegation of prominent citizens of
Georgia, who extended to him a formal invitation to attend
the Augusta Exposition in November. The delegation
comprised the following citizens and Exposition directors:
Hon. Patrick Walsh, Walter M. Jackson, J. P. Verdery,
H. G. Smith, J. L. Gow, C. H. Ballard, J. J. Doughty, W.
A. Garrett, G. J. Howard, W. H. Landrum, J. E. Barton,
W. E. Keener, Percy Burum, J. P. Bones, J. M. Cranston,
Crawford Mays, Maurice Walton, L. J. Henry, T. R.
Gibson, P. J. O'Connor, Jules Rival, Joseph Ganahl, Jr.,
W. H Barrett, Jr., P. A. Stovall, W. E. Platt, A. J. Gou-
ley, Frank X. Dorr, and Hon. J. C. Clements.
Chairman Walsh, on behalf of the committee, made the
invitation address, to which the President, responding,
said:
Gentlemen — I recall with pleasure the visit made by some of
your representatives. I think I have repeatedly, on every suitable
occasion, especially during my recent visit to the South, expressed
my sincere hope of the development of those marvellous resources
so long hidden from sight, but now about to be opened up. I had
occasion to say then that you would realize the advantage of com-
bining manufactures with agriculture. The old system made of
Georgia a plantation State. I would not have it less so. But you
may still develop other industries without destroying the surface
of the country. There is no competition between these industries ;
one does not supersede" the other. The farmer still has his near
market for some products that will not bear transportation. Out
of this diversity I think the highest development will come. Re-
cently I made a trip through New England and was deeply im-
pressed with the numerous industries and small factories showing
in little places, where the lives and homes of the workmen were so
much cleaner and purer than in the great cities, and this was
made possible by the great diversity of small interests. In Vermont
I came upon a busy little factory surrounded by cottages in the
midst of the hills. I was told that the proprietor made stetho-
"550 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
scopes, and out of a small beginning had built up a great trade.
These little things make happy homes ; bring money, trade, and
development. I am greatly interested in these things, and I would
be very happy to see this development in Alabama and Georgia as
in any Northern State. We all wish it. Whether I can be with
you or not I cannot now say. I have a good many very important
matters demanding attention from now on to the meeting of Con-
gress. Some are home matters of importance and some are foreign.
Looking back over the last year, it would seem probable that there
was a conspiracy among the powers to see that those in responsible
places should have no rest. Many of these things must now come
to my personal attention. If I cannot be with you, you will know
that my heart is with you. If I can I will come, but the time
now being so close to the meeting of Congress it is doubtful.
WASHINGTON, D.C., OCTOBER 17, 1891.
THE Ecumenical Conference of the Methodist Church
convened in the Metropolitan Church at Washington, D.
C., on October 7, 1891. Rt. Rev. Thomas Bowman, Senior
Bishop of the Church in America, presided at the opening,
and Rev. William Arthur, M.A., of London, delivered the
inaugural sermon. It was in every respect the greatest
assembly in the history of Methodism.
Among a few of the distinguished preachers and orators
from abroad were: Rev. T. B. Stephenson, D.D., LL.D.,
Rev. Hugh Price Hughes, M.A., Rev. John Bond, Rev.
F. W. Bourne, Rev. J. Ernest Clapham, and Rev. David
J. Waller, D.D., all of London. The following Wash-
ingtonians comprised the Committee on Reception : Bishop
J. F. Hurst, D.D. ; Rev. G. H. Corey, D.D., Chairman;
Rev. C. W. Baldwin, Rev. J. H. Becket, Rev. J. W. E.
Bowen, Rev. T. E. Carson, Rev. R. H. G. Dyson,. Rev.
George Elliott, Rev. S. R. Murray, Rev. C. H. Phillips,
Rev. J. A. Price, Rev. E. S. Todd, Rev. L. T. Wider-
man, Rev. J. T. Wightman, Rev. L. B. Wilson, Alexander
Ashley, E. S. Atkinson, W. S. Birch, Gen. Cyrus Bussey,
J. F. Chestnut, D. S. Cissell, Robert Cohen, George Comp-
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 551
ton, L. A. Cornish, G. S. Deering, Robert Dunn, A. B.
Duval, Hon. M. G. Emery, - Prof . Edgar Frisbie, D. B.
Groff, T. A. Harding, Gen. S. S. Henkle, W. H. Houghton,
W. J. Hutchinson, Thomas Jarvis, B. F. Leighton, Will-
iam Mayse, H. B. Moulton, Hon. Hiram Price, B. Robin-
son, W. J. Sibley, T. B. Stahl, B. H. Stinemetz, H. L.
Strang, G. W. F. Swartzell, Frederick Tasker, J. S. Top-
ham, L. H. Walker, E. S. Wescott, J. B. Wilson, and W.
R. Woodward.
On the tenth day of the Conference, President Harrison,
escorted by Rev. Dr. J. M. King, Secretary, and Rev. Dr.
Corey, the pastor of Metropolitan Church, attended the
session. Other distinguished visitors were Secretary of
the Treasury Foster, Secretary of the Interior Noble, and
Sir Julian Pauncefote, the British Minister.
The chief essay of the session was delivered by Mr.
Thomas Snape, of Liverpool, upon the topic of the day,
"International Arbitration," a subject which made the
presence of the President and the British envoy partic-
ularly appropriate.
As the President ascended to the pulpit, all the dele-
gates and the great audience instantly arose. The pre-
siding officer of the day, Rev. T. G. Williams, of Montreal,
presented the distinguished visitor, who was received with
prolonged applause, in which the English delegates led.
President Harrison then addressed the Conference as
follows :
Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Conference — I come here this
morning to make an expression of my respect and esteem for this
great body of delegates assembled from all the countries, of the
world, and much more to give a manifestation of my respect and
love for that greater body of Christian men and women for whom
you stand. Every Ecumenical Conference is a distinct step in the
direction, not only of the unification of the Church, but of the
unification of the human race.
Assembling from countries unlike in their civil institutions, from
churches not wholly in accord as to doctrine or church order, you
552 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
come together to find that the unlikeness is not so great as you
had thought, and to find your common sympathies and common
purposes greater and larger than you had thought — large enough
presently to overspread and to extinguish all these transitory lines
of division.
I am glad to know that as followers of Wesley, whose hymns we
sing, you have been in consultation as to the methods by which
these minor divisions among you might be obliterated. It is the
natural order that subdivisions should be wiped out before the
grand divisions of the Church can be united. [Applause. ] Who
does not greatly rejoice that the controversial clash of the churches
is less than it once was ; that we hear more of the Master and His
teachings of love and duty than of hair-splitting theological differ-
ences? [Applause. ]
Many years ago, while visiting in Wisconsin, when Sunday
came around I went with some frienfls to the little Methodist
church in an adjoining village. The preacher undertook to over-
turn my Presbyterianism. [Laughter and applause.] An irrev-
erent friend who sat beside me as the young man delivered his
telling blows against Calvinism was constantly emphasizing the
points made by nudging me with his elbow. [Laughter. J Now I
am glad to say that very often since then I have worshipped in
Methodist churches, and that is the last experience of that kind I
have had. [Applause]
You have to-day as the theme of discussion the subject of inter-
national arbitration ; and this being a public, or, in a large sense
of the word, a political question, perhaps makes my presence here
as an officer of the United States especially appropriate. [Applause. ]
It is a curious incident that some days ago, and before I was
aware of the theme or the occasion which we have here this morn-
ing, I had appointed this afternoon to visit the great gun foundry
of the United States at the navy yard. Things have come in their
proper sequence. I am here at this arbitration meeting before I
go to the gun factory. [Laughter. ]
This subject is one that has long attracted the attention, and
I think I may say has, perhaps, as greatly attracted the interest
and adherence of the United States as that of any other Christian
power in the world. [Applause. ]
It is known to you all that in the recent conference of the Amer-
ican states at Washington the proposition was distinctly made and
adopted by the representatives of all, or nearly all, of the govern-
ments of America that, as applied to this hemisphere, all inter-
national disputes should be settled by arbitration. [Applause. ]
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 553
Of course there are limitations as yet, in the nature of things,
to the complete and general adoption of such a scheme. It is quite
possible to apply arbitration to a dispute as to a boundary line ; it
is quite impossible, it seems to me, to apply it to a case of inter-
national feud. If there is present a disposition to subjugate, an
aggressive spirit to seize territory, a spirit of national aggrandize-
ment that does not stop to consider the rights of other men and other
people — to such a case and to such a spirit international arbitration
has none, or, if any, a remote and difficult application.
It is for a Christian sentiment, manifesting itself in a nation, to
remove forever such causes of dispute ; and then what remains will
be the easy subject of adjustment by fair international arbitration.
But I had not intended to enter into a discussion of this great
theme, for the setting forth of which you have appointed those
who have given it special attention. Let me, therefore, say simply
this : that for myself — temporarily in a place of influence in this
country — and much more for the great body of its citizenship, I
express the desire of America for peace with the whole world.
[Applause. ] It would have been vain to suggest the pulling down
of block-houses or family disarmament to the settlers on a hostile
Indian frontier. They would have told you rightly that the condi-
tions were not ripe. And so it may be and is probably true that a
full application of the principle is not presently possible, the devil
still being unchained. [Laughter.]
We will have our gun foundries, and possibly will best promote
the settlement of international disputes by arbitration, by having
it understood that if the appeal is to a fiercer tribunal we shall
not be out of the debate. [Great applause. ] There is a unity of the
Church and of humanity, and the lines of progress are the same.
It is by this great Christian sentiment, characterized not only by
a high sense of justice, but by a spirit of love and forbearance,
mastering the civil institutions and governments of the world,
that we shall approach universal peace and adopt arbitration
methods of settling disputes. [Applause. ]
Let me thank you, Mr. Chairman, and you, gentlemen of this
Conference, for the privilege of standing before you for a moment,
and for this most cordial welcome which you have given to me.
I beg to express again my high appreciation of the character of
this delegation and the membership of the great Church from
which you come, and to wish that in your remaining deliberations
and in your journeys to far- distant homes you may have the guid-
ance and care of that God whom we all revere and worship. [Ap-
plause. ]
554 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
AMERICAN TIN PLATE, OCTOBER 23.
WHILE the gubernatorial campaign in Ohio was in
progress and Major McKinley was making his famous
race, the question as to the successful manufacture of
tin plate in the United States was one of the leading issues
of the day. At this juncture W. C. Croiiemyer, of the
United States Iron and Steel Tin Plate Works, at Demm-
ler, Pa., sent President Harrison a box of tin plate manu-
factured at the Demmler works, and received in return the
following interesting letter, which was given wide pub-
licity at the time :
EXECUTIVE MANSION, October 19, 1891.
MY DEAR SIR— I have your letter of October 15, and also a box of
bright tin plate which you send as a specimen of the product be-
ing turned out by the United States Iron and Tin Plate Company.
I have no skill in determining the character of this work ; but, to
the eye, it seems to be eminently satisfactory, and I thank you for
this evidence that a new industry has been established in the United
States.
I cannot quite understand how an American can doubt that we
have the mechanical skill and business sagacity to establish suc-
cessfully here the manufacture of tin plate. No other country,
certainly, surpasses us in the inventive genius of its citizens or in
the business sagacity of its capitalists. It is surprising to me that
any patriotic American should approach this question with a desire
to see this great and interesting experiment fail, or with an un-
willingness to accept the evidences of its success. It Mail be a
great step in the direction of commercial independence when we
produce our own tin plate.
It seems to me that nothing, unless it be a lack of faith in the
maintenance of the present law, can thwart this desirable achieve-
ment. I can understand how our success should be doubted and
our failure accepted with satisfaction in Wales, but I cannot under-
stand how any American can take that view of the question or why
he should always approach every evidence of the successful estab-
lishment of this industry in this country with a disposition to dis-
credit it and reject it. If the great experiment is to fail, our own
people should not add to the mortification of failure the crime of
rejoicing in it. Very truly yours,
BENJAMIN HARRISON.
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 555
WASHINGTON, NOVEMBER 14 AND DECEMBER 9, 1891.
The Chilian Imbroglio.
IN January, 1891, civil war broke out in the republic of
Chili between the Congressional forces and the established
Government under President Balmaceda. Deeds of cru-
elty signalized the conflict, which continued until August
28, when the insurgent forces landed near Valparaiso and,
after a bloody engagement, captured that city. President
Balmaceda became a fugitive, and a few weeks later com-
mitted suicide, by shooting, at the residence of Senor
Uribirru, the Argentine Minister.
During the conduct of the war, the Itata, an armed ves-
sel, commanded by an officer of the Chilian insurgent fleet,
was seized under process of the United States Court at
San Diego, Cal., for a violation of the neutrality laws.
This seizure and the subsequent escape, surrender, and
return of the Itala, and the strict neutrality observed by
the American Minister, Hon. Patrick Egan, and Admiral
Brown, commanding the squadron, caused the victorious
Chilians to manifest a spirit of animosity toward the Gov-
ernment and people of the United States. This feeling
was intensified by the false statements published in the
British press, notably the London Times, touching the
conduct of Admiral Brown and the American Minister,
and by the fact that the American Legation, exercising
the established right of asylum, opened its doors to sev-
eral prominent political refugees of the defunct Balmaceda
Government.
On October 16, 1891, this hostility culminated in an
attack, in the streets of Valparaiso, upon a number of sail-
ors attached to the U. S. cruiser Baltimore, who were upon
shore leave. These sailors, wearing their uniforms, were
assaulted by armed men in different localities in the city ;
one petty officer was killed outright, and eight seamen
556 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
seriously wounded, one of whom died a few days later.
Many of their stab wounds were in the back. The news
of this bloody and unprovoked attack sent a thrill of indig-
nation across the American continent, and it was felt that
the deadly insult must be atoned in blood. The war feel-
ing was not lessened by the impudent tone of the reply
from the Chilian Minister of Foreign Affairs. American
indignation subsided somewhat pending a judicial inquiry
into the attack, but the determination to expiate the insult
had in no degree abated when, on November 14, Senor
Don Pedro Montt was presented to President Harrison
as the newly accredited Chilian Minister to the United
States.
The reception of a new Minister is ordinarily a very
formal and uninteresting affair, but the circumstances
narrated — with the two governments apparently on the
verge of war — lent an unusual interest to this official meet-
ing; and the President's remarks, characterized by his
usual frankness and firmness, called forth the approval
of the whole Nation.
The Minister was accompanied by Senors Anibal Cruz,
Secretary of Legation; Guillermo Arenanetegan and
Valentin del Campo, attaches. After the formal intro-
ductions by Secretary Elaine, Senor Montt addressed the
President in Spanish as follows :
Mr. President — I have the honor to present the credentials which
accredit me in the capacity cf Envoy Extraordinary and Minister
Plenipotentiary of the republic of Chili in the United States of
North America. The object of the mission which the Government
of Chili has confided to me is to cultivate and maintain the rela-
tions of peace and friendship between the United States and Chili,
which have ever been close and cordial. For the accomplishment
of this purpose I rely upon the kindness and good- will which the
United States Government has always manifested for the represen-
tatives of Chili. Permit me to express my conn try's sincere wishes
for the prosperity and welfare of this noble country, which is so
highly favored by Providence, and for your own happiness.
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 557
The President, in response, said :
Mr. Minister — I am glad to receive from your hands the letters
accrediting you as the Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Pleni-
potentiary of the republic of Chili to the United States. The pres-
ence of a representative of the Government of Chili at this capital
will, I hope, tend to promote a good understanding between the
two governments and the early settlement, upon terms just and
honorable to both, of the diplomatic questions now somewhat ur-
gently awaiting adjustment. The Government of the United States,
as well as its people, particularly desire and rejoice in the prosperity
of all our neighbors in this hemisphere. Our diplomatic relations
with them have always been and will continue to be free from in-
termeddling with their internal affairs. Our people are too just
to desire that the commercial or political advantage of this Gov-
ernment should be sought by the promotion of disastrous dissen-
sions in other countries. We hear with sorrow every fresh tale of
war or internal strife, and are always ready to give our friendly
offices to the promotion of peace. If these are not acceptable or
do not avail, it is our policy to preserve an honorable and strict
neutrality, as was done during the recent war in Chili. Tempting
commercial and political advantages may be offered for our aid or
influence by one or the other of the two contending parties, but
this we have not deemed to be consistent with the obligations of
international honor and good-will. This Government was quite
as determined in its refusal to allow a war-vessel of the United
States to carry to a neutral port, where it could be made available
for war purposes, the silver of Balmaceda, as it was to give aid to
the forces opposing him. The questions involved were Chilian
questions, and this Government endeavored to observe those prin
ciples of non-intervention upon which it had so strongly insisted
when civil war disturbed our own people. I cannot doubt that
this policy will commend itself to those who now administer the
Government of Chili ; nor can I doubt that when excitement has
given place to calmness, when the truth is ascertained and the
selfish and designing perversions of recent incidents have been
exposed, our respective governments will find a basis of increased
mutual respect, confidence, and friendship.
Mr. Minister, this Government and our people rejoice that peace
has been restored in Chili, and that its Government is the expres-
sion of the free choice of its people. You may assure your hon-
ored President, who has been chosen under circumstances which
so strongly testify to his moderation and to the esteem in which he
is held by the people of all parties, that the Government of the
558 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
United States entertains only good-will for him and for the people
of Chili, and cannot doubt that the existing and all future differ-
ences between the two governments will find an honorable adjust-
ment. To you, Mr. Minister, I tender a personal welcome.
In his annual message to Congress, December 9, Pres-
dent Harrison concludes his remarks upon Chilian affairs
relating to the attack upon the sailors of the cruiser Balti-
more with the following significant paragraphs :
So far as I have yet been able to learn, no other explanation of
this bloody work has been suggested than that it had its origin in
hostility to these men as sailors of the United States, wearing the
uniform of their Government, and not in any individual act or
personal animosity. The attention of the Chilian Government was
at once called to this affair, and a statement of the facts obtained
by the investigation we had conducted was submitted, accompanied
by a request to be advised of any other or qualifying facts in the
possession of the Chilian Government that might tend to relieve
this affair of the appearance of an insult to this Government.
The Chilian Government was also advised that if such qualifying
facts did not exist, this Government would confidently expect full
and prompt reparation.
It is to be regretted that the reply of the Secretary for Foreign
Affairs of the Provisional Government was couched in an offensive
tone. To this no response has been made. This Government is
now awaiting the result of an investigation which has been
conducted by the criminal court at Valparaiso. It is reported un-
officially that the investigation is about completed, and it is ex-
pected that the result will soon be communicated to this Govern-
ment, together with some adequate and satisfactory response to
the note by which the attention of Chili was called to this incident.
If these just expectations should be disappointed or further need-
less delay intervene, I will, by a special message, bring this mat-
ter again to 'the attention of Congress for such action as may be
necessary. The entire correspondence with the Government of
Chili will at an early day be submitted to Congress.
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 559
PROTECTION FOR RAILROAD EMPLOYEES.
[Extract from President's Message, December 9, 1SOL]
' ON the evening of August 5, 1888, at Indianapolis, Gen-
eral Harrison, responding to an address from D. T. Downs,
President of the Terre Haute Railroad Club, and in the
presence of several thousand railroad employees, speaking
of the heroic services rendered by the men who operate
the great railroad lines of the country, said :
I do not doubt that certain and necessary provisions for the safety
of the men who operate these roads will yet be made compulsory
by public and general law. The dangers connected with your call-
ing are very great, and the public interest, as well as your - own,
requires that they should be reduced to the minimum. I do not
doubt that we shall yet require that uniformity in the construc-
tion of railroad cars that will diminish the danger of those who
must pass between them in order to make up trains.
Consistent with these views, President Harrison, in his
message to Congress, December 9, 1891, made the follow-
ing pertinent suggestions :
I have twice before urgently called the attention of Congress to
the necessity of legislation for the protection of the lives of rail-
road employees, but nothing has yet been done. During the year
ending June 30, 1890, 869 brakemen were killed and 7, 841 maimed
while engaged in coupling cars. The total number of railroad
employees killed during the year was 2, 451 and the number injured
22, 390. This is a cruel and largely a needless sacrifice. The Gov-
ernment is spending nearly one million dollars annually to save
the lives of shipwrecked seamen; every steam- vessel is rigidly in-
spected and required to adopt the most approved safety appliances.
All this is good ; but how shall we excuse the lack of interest and
effort in behalf of this army of brave young men who in our land
commerce are being sacrificed every year by the continued use of
antiquated and dangerous appliances? A law requiring of every
railroad engaged in inter- State commerce the equipment each year
of a given per cent, of its freight cars with automatic couplers and
air brakes would compel an agreement between the roads as to the
kind of brakes and couplers to be used, and would very soon and
very greatly reduce, the present fearful death-rate among railroad
employees.
5 GO HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
THE APPOINTMENT OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORS.
[ From Annual Message to Congress, December 0, 1891. ]
PERHAPS no official utterance of President Harrison
received more serious and profound consideration — as in-
dicated through the press of the day — than the following
patriotic admonishment regarding the danger lurking
within certain possible methods of choosing presidential
electors. He said :
The method of appointment by the States of electors of President
and Vice-President has recently attracted renewed interest by rea-
son of a departure by the State of Michigan from the method which
had become uniform in all the States. Prior to 1832 various meth-
ods had been used by the different States, and even by the same
State. In some the choice was made by the Legislature ; in others
electors were chosen by districts, but more generally by the voters
of the whole State upon a general ticket. The movement toward
the adoption of the last-named method had an early beginning and
went steadily forward among the States, until in 1832 there remained
but a single State— South Carolina — that had not adopted it. That
State, until the Civil War, continued to choose its electors by a
vote of the Legislature, but after the war changed its method and
conformed to the practice of the other States. For nearly sixty
years all the States save one have appointed their electors by a
popular vote upon a general ticket, and for nearly thirty years this
method was universal.
After a full test of other methods, without important division or
dissent in any State and without any purpose of party advantage,
a,s we must believe, but solely upon the considerations that uni-
formity was desirable and that general election in territorial di-
visions not subject to change was most consistent with the popular
character of our institutions, best preserved the equality of the
voters, and perfectly removed the choice of President from the
baneful influence of the "gerrymander," the practice of all the
States was brought into harmony. That this concurrence should
now be broken is, I think, an unfortunate and even a threatening
episode, and one that may well suggest whether the States that
still give their approval to the old and prevailing method ought
not to secure, by a constitutional amendment, a practice which
has had the approval of all. The recent Michigan legislation pro
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 561
vides for choosing what are popularly known as the Congressional
electors for President by Congressional districts, and the two Sena-
torial electors by districts created for that purpose. This legisla-
tion was, of course, accompanied by a new Congressional appor-
tionment, and the two statutes bring the electoral vote of the State
under the influence of the " gerrymander. "
These gerrymanders for Congressional purposes are in most cases
buttressed by a gerrymander of the legislative districts, thus mak-
ing it impossible for a majority of the legal voters of the State to
correct the apportionment and equalize the Congressional districts.
A minority rule is established that only a political convulsion can
overthrow, I have recently been advised that in one county of a
certain State three districts for the election of members of the Leg-
islature are constituted as follows : One has 65,000 population, one
15,000, and one 10,000; while in another county, detached, non-
contiguous sections have been united to make a legislative district.
These methods have already found effective application to the choice
of Senators and Representatives in Congress, and now an evil start
has been made in the direction of applying them to the choice by
the States of electors of President and Vice- President. If this is
accomplished, we shall then have the three great departments of
the Government in the grasp of the " gerrymander, " the legislative
and executive directly and the judiciary indirectly, through the
power of appointment.
An election implies a body of electors having prescribed qualifi-
cations, each one of whom has an equal value and influence in
determining the result. So when the Constitution provides that
"each State shall appoint [elect], in such manner as the legis-
lature thereof may direct, a number of electors, " etc, , an unre-
stricted power was not given to the legislatures in the selection of
the methods to be used. " A republican form of government" is
guaranteed by the Constitution to each State, and the power given
by the same instrument to the legislatures of the States to prescribe
methods for the choice, by the State, of electors must be exercised
under that limitation. The essential features of such a government
are the right of the people to choose their own officers and the
nearest practicable equality of value in the suffrages given in
determining that choice.
It will not be claimed that the power given to the Legislature
would support a law providing that the persons receiving the smallest
vote should be the electors, or a law that all the electors should be
chosen by the voters of a single Congressional district. The State
is to choose, and under the pretence of regulating methods the
36
562 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
legislature can neither vest the right of choice elsewhere nor adopt
methods not conformable to republican institutions. It is not my
purpose here to discuss the question whether a choice by the Legis-
lature or by the voters of equal single districts is a choice by the
State, but only to recommend such regulation of this matter by
constitutional amendment as will secure uniformity and prevent
that disgraceful partisan jugglery to which such a liberty of choice,
if it exist, offers a temptation.
Nothing just now is more important than to provide every
guaranty for the absolutely fair and free choice by an equal
suffrage, within the respective States, of all the officers of the
national Government, whether that suffrage is applied directly, as
in the choice of members of the House of Representatives, or indi-
rectly, as in the choice of Senators and electors of President.
Respect for public officers and obedience to law will not cease to be
the characteristics of our people until our elections cease to declare
the will of majorities fairly ascertained, without fraud, suppression,
or gerrymander. If I were called upon to declare wherein our
chief national danger lies, I should say, without hesitation, in the
overthrow of majority control by the suppression or perversion of
the popular suffrage. That there is a real danger here all must
agree, but the energies of those who see it have been chiefly ex-
pended in trying to fix responsibility upon the opposite party,
rather than in efforts to make such practices impossible by either
party.
Is it not possible now to adjourn that interminable and incon-
clusive debate while we take, by consent, one step in the direction
of reform by eliminating the gerrymander, which has been de-
nounced by all parties, as an influence in the selection of electors
of President and members of Congress? All the States have, acting
freely and separately, determined that the choice of electors by
a general ticket is the wisest and safest method, and it would seem
there could be no objection to a constitutional amendment making
that method permanent. If a legislature chosen in one year upon
purely local questions should, pending a presidential contest, meet,
rescind the law for a choice upon a general ticket, and provide for
the choice of electors by the legislature, and this trick should
determine the result, it is not too much to say that the public peace
might be seriously and widely endangered.
I have alluded to the " gerrymander" as affecting the method of
selecting electors of President by Congressional districts, but the
primary intent and effect of this form of political robbery have
relation to the selection of members of the House of Representa-
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 563
tives. The power of Congress is ample to deal with this threaten-
ing and intolerable abuse. The unfailing test of sincerity in elec-
tion reform will be found in a willingness to confer as to remedies
and to put into force such measures as will most effectually pre-
serve the right of the people to free and equal representation.
An attempt was made in the last Congress to bring to bear the
constitutional powers of the general Government for the correction
of frauds against the suffrage. It is important to know whether
the opposition to such measures is really vested in particular
features supposed to be objectionable or includes any proposition
to give to the election laws of the United States adequacy to the
correction of grave and acknowledged evils. I must yet entertain
the hope that it is possible to secure a calm, patriotic consideration
of such constitutional or statutory changes as may be necessary to
secure the choice of the officers of the Government to the people
by fair apportionments and free elections. I believe it would be
possible to constitute a commission, non-partisan in its member-
ship and composed of patriotic, wise, and impartial men, to whom
a consideration of the question of the evils connected with our
election system and methods might be committed with a. good
prospect of securing unanimity in some plan for removing or miti-
gating those evils. The Constitution would permit the selection of
the commission to be vested in the Supreme Court, if that method
would give the best guaranty of impartiality.
This commission should be charged with the duty of inquiring
into the whole subject of the law of elections as related to the choice
of officers of the national Government, with a view to securing to
every elector a free and unmolested exercise of the suffrage and as
near an approach to an equality of value in each ballot cast as is
attainable.
While the policies of the general Government upon the tariff,
upon the restoration of our merchant marine, upon river and har-
bor improvements, and other such matters of grave and general
concern are liable to be turned this way or that by the results of
Congressional elections and administrative policies, sometimes in-
volving issues that tend to peace or war, to be turned this way
or that by the results of a presidential election, there is a rightful
interest in all the States and in every Congressional district that
will not be deceived or silenced by the audacious pretence that the
question of the right of any body of legal voters in any State or in
any Congressional district to give their suffrages freely upon these
general questions is a matter only of local concern or control. The
demand that the limitations of suffrage shall be found in the law,
564 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
and only there, is a just demand, and no just man should resent
or resist it. My appeal is, and must continue to be, for a consul-
tation that shall "proceed with candor, calmness, and patience
upon the lines of justice and humanity, not of prejudice and
cruelty. "
To the consideration of these very grave questions I invite not
only the attention of Congress, but that of all patriotic citizens.
We must not entertain the delusion that our people have ceased to
regard a free ballot and equal representation as the price of their
allegiance to laws and to civil magistrates.
I have been greatly rejoiced to notice many evidences of the
increased unification of our people and of a revived national
spirit. The vista that now opens to us is wider and more glorious
than ever before. Gratification and amazement struggle for su-
premacy as we contemplate the population, wealth, and moral
strength of our country. A trust, momentous in its influence upon
our people and upon the world, is for a brief time committed to
us, and we must not be faithless to its first condition — the defence
of the free and equal influence of the people in the choice of public
officers and in the control of public affairs.
THE CHILIAN MESSAGE, JANUARY 25, 1892.
JUST as this book is going to the printer there has ap-
peared a most satisfactory closing chapter — the masterly
message on the Chilian difficulty. This message quickly
won the approval of the civilized world, and has stirred,
as it has not been stirred in years, the patriotic pride of
our own people. It will rank side by side with Monroe's
famous declaration of American policy. It at once im-
presses one with its character as the official statement of
their position by a powerful yet generous people, who,
conscious of their own strength, will firmly assert their
rights and maintain their dignity, without any disposi-
tion to despoil or humiliate their weaker neighbors. The
position taken by the President was so firm and the jus-
tice of our claims was so clearly set forth that three days
after the date of the message he was enabled to announce
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 5f>5
to Congress that Chili had substantially complied with
our demands.
Such parts of the message as contained only a recital of
facts, or were not necessary to an understanding of the pol-
icy announced have, for the sake of brevity, been omitted.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
We have now received from the Chilian Government an abstract
of the conclusions of the Fiscal General upon the testimony taken
by the Judge of Crimes in an investigation which was made to ex
tend over nearly three months. I very much regret to be compelled
to say that this report does not enable me to modify the con-
clusion announced in my annual message. I am still of the opin-
ion that our sailors were assaulted, beaten, stabbed, and killed,
not for anything they or any one of them had done, but for what
the Government of the United States had done, or was charged
with having done, by its civil officers and naval commanders. If
that be the true aspect of the case, the injury was to the Govern-
ment of the United States, not to these poor sailors who were as-
saulted in a manner so brutal and so cowardly.
It is not claimed that every personal collision or injury in which
a sailor or officer of such naval vessel visting the shore may be
involved raises an international question , but I am clearly of the
opinion that where such sailors or officers are assaulted by a resi-
dent populace, animated by hostility to the Government whose
uniform these sailors and officers wear, and in resentment of acts
done by their Government, not by them, their nation must take
notice of the event as one involving an infraction of its rights and
dignity — not in a secondary way, as where a citizen is injured and
presents his claim through his own Government, but in a primary
way, precisely as if its minister or consul or the flag itself had
been the object of the same character of assault. The officers and
sailors of the Baltimore were in the harbor of Valparaiso under the
orders of their Government, not by their own choice. They were
upon the shore by the implied invitation of the Government of
Chili and with the approval of their commanding officer ; and it
does not distinguish their case from that of a consul that his stay
is more permanent or that he holds the express invitation of the
local government to justify his longer residence. Nor does it affect
the question that the injury was the act of a mob. If there had
566 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
been no participation by the police or military in this cruel work
and no neglect on their part to extend protection, the case would
still be one, in my opinion, when its extent and character are con-
sidered, involving international rights.
Here follow the details of the attack upon the sailors
of the Baltimore in the streets of Valparaiso, October
16th.
The scene . , . is very graphically set before us by the Chilian tes-
timony. The American sailors, who, after so long an examination,
have not been found guilty of any breach of the peace so far as
the Chilian authorities are able to discover, unarmed and defence-
less, are fleeing for their lives, pursued by overwhelming numbers,
and fighting only to aid their own escape from death or to succor
some mate whose life is in greater peril. Eighteen of them are
brutally stabbed and beaten, while one Chilian seems, from the
report, to have suffered some injury ; but how serious or with what
character or weapon, or whether by a missile thrown by our men
or by some of his fellow -rioters, is unascertained.
The pretence that our men were fighting " with stones, clubs, and
bright arms" is, in view of these facts, incredible. It is further
refuted by the fact that our prisoners, when searched, were abso-
lutely without arms, only seven penknives being found in the
possession of the men arrested, wrhile there were received by our
men more than thirty stab wounds, every one of which was in-
flicted in the back, and almost every contused wound was in the
back or back of the head. The evidence of the ship's officer of
the day is that even the jack-knives of the men were taken from
them before leaving the ship. , . .
No amount of evasion or subterfuge is able to cloud our clear
vision of this brutal work. . , .
It is quite remarkable and quite characteristic of the manage-
ment of this affair by the Chilian police authorities that we should
now be advised that Seaman Davidson, of the Baltimore, has been
included in the indictment, his offence being, so far as I have been
able to ascertain, that he attempted to defend a shipmate against
an assailant who was striking at him with a knife. The perfect
vindication of our men is furnished by this report; one only is
found to have been guilty of criminal fault, and that for an act
clearly justifiable. . . .
Tho evidence of our sailors clearly shows that the attack was ex-
pected by the Chilian people, that threats had been made against our
HARRISON'S SPEECHES 5G7
men, and that, in one case somewhat early in the afternoon, the
keeper of one house into which some of our men had gone closed
his establishment in anticipation of the attack, which he advised
them would be made upon them as darkness came on. ...
Several of our men sought security from the mob by such com-
plete or partial changes in their dress as would conceal the fact of
their being seamen of the Baltimore, and found it then possible to
walk the streets without molestation. These incidents conclusively
establish that the attack was upon the uniform — the nationality —
and not upon the men.
The testimony of Captain Jenkins, of the American merchant ship
Keu'eenaw, which had gone to Valparaiso for repairs, and who
was a witness of some part of the assault upon the crew of the Bal-
timore, is strongly corroborative of the testimony of our own
sailors when he says that he saw Chilian sentries drive back a sea-
man, seeking shelter, upon a mob that was pursuing him. The
officers and men of Captain Jenkins' ship furnish the most conclu-
sive testimony as to the indignities which were practised toward
Americans in Valparaiso. When American sailors, even of mer-
chant ships, can only secure their safety by denying their nation-
ality, it must be time to readjust our relations with a government
that permits such demonstrations.
As to the participation of the police, the evidence of our sailors
shows that our men were struck and beaten by police officers before
and after arrest, and that one at least was dragged with a lasso
about his neck by a mounted policeman. That the death of Riggin
was the result of a rifle- shot fired by a policeman or soldier on duty
is shown directly by the testimony of Johnson, in whose arms he was
at the time, and by the evidence of Charles Langen, an American
sailor not then a member of the Baltimore's crew, who stood close by
and saw the transaction. The Chilian authorities do not pretend to
fix the responsibility of this shot upon any particular person, but
avow their inability to ascertain who fired it, further than that it
was fired from a crowd. . . .
The communications of the Chilian Government in relation to
this cruel and disastrous attack upon our men, as will appear from
the correspondence, have not in any degree taken the form of a
manly and satisfactory expression of regret, much less of apology.
The event was of so serious a character that, if the injuries suffered
by our men had been wholly the result of an accident in a Chilian
port, the incident v/as grave enough to have called for some public
expression of sympathy and regret from the local authorities. It
508 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
is not enough to say that the affair was lamentable, for humanity
would require that expression, even if the beating and killing of
our men had been justifiable. It is not enough to say that the in-
cident is regretted, coupled with the statement that the affair
was not of an unusual character in ports where foreign sailors are
accustomed to meet. It is not for a generous and sincere govern-
ment to seek for words of small or equivocal meaning in which to
convey to a friendly power an apology for an offence so atrocious as
this. In the case of the assault by a mob in New Orleans upon the
Spanish consulate in 1851, Mr. Webster wrote to the Spanish minis-
ter, Mr. Calderon, that the acts complained of were "a disgraceful
and flagrant breach of duty and propriety, " and that his Govern-
ment " regrets them as deeply as Minister Calderon or his Govern-
ment could possibly do ; " that " these acts have caused the President
great pain, and he thinks a proper acknowledgment is due to Her
Majesty's Government." He invited the Spanish consul to return
to his post, guaranteeing protection, and offered to salute the
Spanish flag if the consul should come in a Spanish vessel. Such
a treatment by the Government of Chili of this assault would
have been more creditable to the Chilian authorities ; and much less
can hardly be satisfactory to a government that values its dignity
and honor.
On the 21st instant I caused to be communicated to the Govern-
ment of Chili, by the American minister at Santiago, the conclu-
sions of this Government after a full consideration of all the
evidence and of every suggestion affecting this matter, and to these
conclusions I adhere. They were stated as follows :
" First. That the assault is not relieved of the aspect which the
early information of the event gave to it, viz. . That of an attack
upon the uniform of the United States Navy, having its origin
and motive in a feeling of hostility to this Government, and not
in any act of the sailors or of any of them.
"Second. That the public authorities of Valparaiso flagrantly
failed in their duty to protect our men, and that some of the police
and of the Chilian soldiers and sailors were themselves guilty of
unprovoked assaults upon our sailors before and after arrest. He
[the President] thinks the preponderance of the evidence and
the inherent probabilities lead to the conclusion that Riggin was
killed by the police or soldiers.
"Third. That he [the President] is therefore compelled to bring
the case back to the position taken by this Government in the note
of Mr. Wharton of October 23 last, . . . and to ask for a suit-
HARRISON'S SPEECHES. 509
able apology and for some adequate reparation for the injury done
to this Government. "
In the same note the attention of the Chilian Government was
called to the offensive character of a note addressed by Mr. Matta,
its Minister of Foreign Affairs, to Mr. Montt, its minister at this
capital, on the llth ultimo. This despatch was not officially com-
municated to this Government ; but, as Mr. Montt was directed to
translate it and to give it to the press of this country, it seemed to
me that it could not pass without official notice. It was not only
undiplomatic, but grossly insulting to our naval officers and to the
Executive Department, as it directly imputed untruth and insin-
cerity to the reports of the naval officers and to the official com-
munications made by the Executive Department to Congress. It
will be observed that I have notified the Chilian Government that,
unless this note is at once withdrawn and a,n apology as public as
the offence made, I will terminate diplomatic relations.
The request for the recall of Mr. Egan upon the ground that he
was not persona grata was unaccompanied by any suggestion that
could properly be used in support of it, and I infer that the request
is based upon official acts of Mr. Egan which have received the
approval of this Government. But however that may be, I could
not consent to consider such a question until it had first been set-
tled whether our correspondence with Chili could be conducted
upon a basis of mutual respect.
In submitting these papers to Congress for that grave and patri-
otic consideration which the questions involved demand, I desire
to say that I am of the opinion that the demands made of Chili by
this Government should be adhered to and enforced. If the dignity
as well as the prestige and influence of the United States are not to
be wholly sacrificed, we must protect those who, in foreign ports,
display the flag or wear the colors of this Government against in-
sult, brutality, and death inflicted in resentment of the acts of
their Government, and not for any fault of their own. It has been
my desire in every way to cultivate friendly and intimate relations
with all the governments of this hemisphere. We do not covet
their territory ; we desire their peace and prosperity. We look for
no advantage in our relations with them, except the increased
exchanges of commerce upon a basis of mutual benefit. We regret
every civil contest that disturbs their peace and paralyzes their
development, and are always ready to give our good offices for the
restoration of peace. It must, however, be understood that this
Government, while exercising the utmost forbearance toward
weaker powers, will extend its strong and adequate protection to
570 HARRISON'S SPEECHES.
its citizens, to its officers, and to its humblest sailors when made
the victims of wantonness and cruelty in resentment, not of their
personal misconduct, but of the official acts of their Government.
Upon information received that Patrick Shields, an Irishman and
probably a British subject, but at the time a fireman of the Amer-
ican steamer Keweenaiv, in the harbor of Valparaiso for repairs,
had been subjected to personal injuries in that city — largely by
the police — I directed the Attorney -General to cause the evidence
of the officers and crew of that vessel to be taken upon its arrival
in San Francisco ; and that testimony is also herewith transmitted.
The brutality and even savagery of the treatment of this poor man
by the Chilian police would be incredible if the evidence of Shields
was not supported by other direct testimony and by the distressing
condition of the man himself when he was finally able to reach his
vessel. . . .
A claim for reparation has been made in behalf of this man,
for while he was not a citizen of the United States, the doctrine
long held by us, as expressed in the Consular Regulations, is "the
principles which are maintained by this Government in regard to
the protection, as distinguished from the relief, of seamen are well
settled. It is held that the circumstance that the vessel is Ameri-
can is evidence that the seamen on board are such ; and in every
regularly documented merchant vessel the crew will find their pro-
tection in the flag that covers them. "
I have as yet received no reply to our note of the 21st instant,
but in my opinion I ought not to delay longer to bring these mat-
ters to the attention of Congress for such action as may be deemed
appropriate.
BENJ. HARRISON.
EXECUTIVE MANSION,
January 25, 1892.
INDEX TO SPEECHES, ETC.
AKRON, Colorado, reception ad-
dress at, 460
Albany, Oregon, reception ad-
dress at, 402
Albany, New York, reception
address at, 498
Alger, Gen. R. A., response of, 69
Allen County, Ohio, to delega-
tion from, 149
Alliance, Ohio, reception ad-
dress at, 284
Altoona, Pa., reception address
at, 487
American Fork, Utah, reception
address at, 435
Anderson, Indiana, reception
address at, 271
Anniston, Alabama, reception
address at, 308
Ashland, Oregon, reception ad-
dress at, 400
Ashland, Nebraska, reception
address at, 464
Atchison, Kansas, reception ad-
dress at, 259
Atlanta, Georgia, address to stu-
dents, 304
farewell address, 305
Mr. Wanamaker's address,
306
Augusta, Georgia, to exposition
committee from, 549
BAKERSFIELD, California, recep-
tion address at, 362
Baker City, Oregon, reception
address at, 425
Banning, California, reception
address at, 341
Bartholomew County, Indiana,
to delegation from, 90
Bellefontaine, Ohio, to delega-
tion from, 89
reception address at, 277
Bellows Falls, Vermont, recep-
tion address at, 540
Benicia, California, reception
address at, 392
Bennington trip, 1891, person-
nel of party, 493
Bennington, Vermont, Battle
Monument address, 502
at great tent banquet, 505
Benton Harbor, Michigan, to
delegation from, 41
Benton County, Indiana, to dele-
gation from, 44
Berkeley, California, at State
University, 393
dumb and blind institute,
394
Billings Park, Vermont, speech
at horse fair, 535
Birmingham, Alabama, recep-
tion address at, 311
luncheon address, 313
Blackford County, Indiana, to
delegation from, 163
Blame Club of Kansas City, ad-
dress to, at Indianapolis, 76
Blaine reception, demonstration
at Indianapolis Oct. 11, 1888,
170
Bloomington, Illinois, to delega-
tion from, 62
Boise City, Idaho, reception ad-
dress at, 427
Boone County, Indiana, to dele-
gation from, 46
INDEX TO SPEECHES, ETC.
Boston, Mass. , reception address
at, 226
Mayor's Club banquet, 228
G. A. R. national encamp-
ment, 230
Bradford, Vermont, reception ad-
dress at, 536
Brandon, Vermont, reception ad-
dress at, 516
Brattleboro, Vermont, reception
address at, 542
Bristol, Tennessee, reception ad-
dress at, 291
Brown County, Indiana, to dele-
gation from, 70
Buena Vista, Colorado, reception
address at, 444
Burlington, Vermont, reception
address at, 519
CALIFORNIA delegates to Chica-
go, visit from, 29
California tour, 1891, personnel
of party, 289
Canon City, Colorado, reception
address at, 446
Canton, Ohio, reception address
at, 283
Cartersville, Georgia, reception
address at, 302
Cascade Locks, Oregon, recep
tion address at, 421
Castleton, Vermont, reception
address at, 515
Centennial address, New York
City, April 30, 1889, 207
Centralia, Washington, recep-
tion address at, 412
Champaign County, Illinois, to
delegation from, 55
Champaign, Illinois, reception
address at, 241
Charlestown, New Hampshire,
reception address at, 539
Chattanooga, Tennessee, recep-
tion address at, 301
Chehalis, Washington, reception
address at, 420
Chemawa, Oregon, reception ad-
dress at, 405
Chicago, Marquette Club ban-
quet address, 16
Chicago, to committee from Mar-
quette Club, 31
to Irish - American Club
from, 124
to commercial travellers
from, 140
to delegation business men
from, 155
to Union vecerans and oth-
ers from, 166
to German -American Club
from, 172
Auditorium dedication ad-
dress, 218
Chilian Minister, official recep-
tion of, response to, 557
Chilian affair, message on,
January 25, 1892, 564-70
Chrisman, Illinois, reception ad-
dress at, 479
Cincinnati, Ohio, to Lincoln
Club from, 49
Cincinnati Exposition Commit-
tee, visit from, 136
Cincinnati Exposition, invita-
tion committee from, 171
Clay County, Indiana, to dele-
gation from, 60
Clayton, Indiana, reunion 70th
Regiment, 115
Clearfield, Pa. , trip to the coal
regions, 231
Cleveland, Ohio, to delegation
from, 152
Garfield mausoleum dedica-
tion, 222
Clifton Forge, Virginia, recep-
tion address at, 235
Clinton County, Indiana, to del-
egation from, 72
Coles County, Illinois, to delega-
tion from, 57
Colorado Springs, Colorado, ad-
dress to scholars, 450
reception address, 453
Colton, California, reception ad-
dress at, 339
Columbus, Ohio, to delegation
veteran voters from, 145
to Garfield Club and Gov.
Foraker, 174
reception address at, Feb.
25, 1889, 192
INDEX TO SPEECHES, ETC.
573
Columbus, Ohio, reception ad
dress at, May 14, 1891, 487
Commercial travellers of Indi-
ana, address to, 40
Commercial travellers of 111.
and Ind. , address to, 92
Commercial travellers of Chica-
go, address to, 139
Commercial travellers of United
States, address to, 177
Council Bluffs, Iowa, reception
address at, 471
Cresson, Pa., to visiting Al-
toona veterans, 231
Crestline, Ohio, reception ad-
dress at, 278
Crete, Nebraska, reception ad-
dress at, 462
DANVILLE, Indiana, to Republi-
can Club from, June 25, 1888,
25
Danville, Illinois, reception ad-
dress at, 240
Dayton, Ohio, to delegation
from, 137
reception address at, 485
Decatur County, Indiana, to del-
egation from, 87
Decatur, Illinois, reception ad-
dress at, 476
Defiance, Ohio, reception ad-
dress at, 94
De Graff, Ohio, reception ad-
dress at, 276
Delaware County, Indiana, to
delegation from, 87
Del Rio, Texas, reception ad-
dress at, 332
Dem ing, New Mexico, reception
address at, 335
Denver, Colorado, address at
Capitol, 454
address at Hotel Metropole,
459
Depew, Hon. Chauncey M. , vis-
its the nominee, 171
Detroit, Michigan Club banquet
address, 9
Diaz, President Porfirio, tele-
gram from, 350
Douglas County, Illinois, to del-
egation from, 84
Duluth, Minnesota, to delega-
tion from, 156
ECUMENICAL Conference, ad-
dress to, at Washington, 550
Edgar County, Illinois, to dele-
gation from, 57
Election results, popular vote for
President, 1888, 188
Electoral College, extract from
President's message, Dec.,
1891, 560
Eleventh Indiana Regiment,
survivors received, 171
Elkhart County, Indiana, to del
egation from, 146
El Paso, Texas, reception ad-
dress at, 333
Ex -prisoners of war, address to,
at Indianapolis, 129
FAIR HAVEN, Vermont, recep-
tion address at, 514
Florence, Colorado, reception
address at, 447
Floyd County, Indiana, to dele-
gation from, 122
Foraker, Gov. J. B. , congratu-
lates the nominee, 174
Ford County, Illinois, to dele-
gation from, 89
Fort Wayne, Indiana, reception
address at, 99
Foster, ex -Gov. Charles, intro-
duces the nominee, 97
Fountain County, Indiana, to
delegation from, 162
Fresno, California, reception ad-
dress at, 365
Fulton County, Indiana, to del-
egation from, 156
GALESBURQ, Illinois, reception
address at, 243
address at reunion 1st Bri-
gade, 246
Alumni Hall, Knox College,
251
Phi Delta Theta banquet, 251
at 1st Brigade banquet, 252
574
INDEX TO SPEECHES, ETC.
Galveston, Texas, great speech
and reception, 322
Garfield Club of Columbus, ad-
dress to, at Indianapolis, 175
Garfield Monument, address at
dedication of, 225
G. A. R. veterans and GOT. Rusk,
address to, at Indianapolis,
120
G. A. R. installation officers, ad-
dress to comrades, 189
G. A. R camp fire, Indianapolis,
address to comrades, 216
G. A. R. national encampment,
address at Boston, 228
Gilroy, California, reception ad-
dress at, 377
Glenwood Springs, Colorado, re-
ception address at, 437
address to miners, 438
address to children, 440
Godfrey Commandery of Chi-
cago, visit from, 83
Grand Rapids, Michigan, to del-
egation from, 159
Greenville, Tennessee, reception
address at, 296
Grundy County, Illinois, to. del-
egation from. 134
HAMILTON County, Indiana, to
delegation from, June 25,
. 1888, 26
to delegation from, August
14, 1888, 83
Hancock County, Ohio, to dele-
gation from, 149
Hannibal, Missouri, reception
address at, 472
Harrison, Gen. Benj., biographi-
cal sketch of, 7-8
Harrison League of Indianapo-
lis, address to, 33
Harrisburg, Pa., reception ad-
dress at, 488
Hastings, Nebraska, reception
address at, 461
Hendricks County, Indiana, to
delegation from, June 25,
1888, 25
to delegation from, Nov. 9,
1888: 188
Henry County, Indiana, to del-
egation from, 67
Hill, Gov. David R, his invita-
tion to the President, 497
Hood River Station, Oregon, re-
ception address at, 421
Houston, Texas, reception ad
dress at, 321
Houtzdale, Pa., reception ad
dress at, 233
Howard County, Indiana, to del
egation from, June 25,
1888, 26
to delegation from, July 18,
1888, 50
Huntington, Indiana, reception
address at, 101.
Hyde Park, Illinois, to delega-
tion from, 166
INAUGURAL Executive Commit-
tee, personnel of, 193
Inaugural address, March 4,
1889, 194-203
Indianapolis, to his neighbors,
June 25, 1888, 27
to Indiana delegates, June
26, 1888, 29
to colored citizens, June 30,
1888, 33
to veterans 70th Regiment,
28
to veterans 26th Infantry,
134
to veterans 7th Cavalry,
131
to veterans 79th Regiment,
176
to veterans and neighbors,
32
introducing Gen. R. A. Al-
ger, 69
official notification, July 4,
1888, 35
to Tippecanoe veterans, July
4, 1888, 38
to railroad employees, July
13, 1888, 47
speech at State Convention,
Aug. 8, 1888, 80
on returning from Put in
Bay, Sept. 4, 1888, 105
INDEX TO SPEECHES, ETC.
575
Indianapolis, great street demon-
stration, Sept. 6, 1888, 106
address to children, Sept. 8,
1888, 107
to the Porter -Columbian
Club, Oct. 3, 1888, 158
Labor- Day address, Oct. 25,
1888, 183
to railroad clubs of Indiana,
Oct. 27, 1888, 185
to the saw- makers of city,
Nov. 9, 1888, 188
to G. A. R. veterans, Jan. 1,
1889, 189
farewell to neighbors, Feb.
25, 1889, 191
dedication Soldiers' Monu-
ment, 211
at G. A. R. camp-fire, Aug.
22, 1889, 216
at reunion 70th Regiment,
Aug. 23, 1889, 217
the home welcome, May 14,
1891, 481
Indio, California, received by
Oov. Markham, 338
Irish -American Club, address to,
Sept. 15, 1888, 125
Iroquois County, Illinois, to del-
egation from, 131
JACKSONVILLE, Illinois, to dele-
gation from, July 19, 1888,
51
to delegation from, Aug. 17,
1888, 90
Janesville, Wisconsin, to dele-
gation from, Oct. 5, 1888, 161
Jay County, Indiana, to delega-
tion from, Sept. 21, 1888, 137
to delegation from, Oct. 4,
1888, 159
Jennings County, Indiana, to
delegation from, Julv 28, 1888,
65
Johnson County, Indiana, to
delegation from, Aug. 17,
1888, 90
Johnson City, Tennessee, recep-
tion address at, 293
Jonesboro, Tennessee, reception
address at, 295
KANKAKEE, Illinois, to delega-
tion from, 90
Kansas City, Missouri, to Elaine
Club from, 77
to Scott Rifles from, 121
banquet address at, 265
Chamber Commerce speech,
266
letter to Commercial Con
gress, 286
Kansas veterans, address to, at
Indianapolis, 108
Kingston, New York, reception
address at, 495
Kiiightstown, Indiana, to sol-
diers' orphans at, 192
Knoxville, Tennessee, reception
address at, 299
Kokomo, Indiana, to delegations
from, 26, 50
reception address at, 103
Kosciusko County, Indiana, to
delegation from, 63
LABOR -DAY address, close of the
great campaign, 182
La Porte County, Indiana, to
delegation from, 132
Lathrop, California, reception
address at, 368
Lawrenceburg, Indiana, recep-
tion address at, 235
Lawrence, Kansas, reception ad-
dress at, 265
Leadville, Colorado, reception
address at, 442
Le Grande, Oregon, reception
address at, 424
Lehi City, Utah, reception ad
dress at, 434
Letter of acceptance, Sept. 11,
1888, 108
Letter to Commercial Congress,
April 14, 1891, 286
Letter on tin plate, its manufact-
ure in America, 554
Lincoln, Nebraska, reception ad-
dress at, 463
thanks to travelling men,
464
Lincoln Club, Cincinnati, ad-
dress to, at Indianapolis, 49
576
INDEX TO SPEECHES, ETC
Little Rock, Arkansas, recep-
tion address at, 317
Lordsburg, New Mexico, recep-
tion address at, 336
Los Angeles, California, recep
tion address at, 345
speech at the pavilion, 347
Los Gatos, California, reception
address at, 381
Louisville, Kentucky, to delega
tion from, 128
MACON County, Illinois, to del-
egation from, 84
Madison, Wisconsin, to delega-
tion from, 161
Mansfield, Ohio, reception ad
dress at, 279
Marion County, Indiana, to the
Tippecanoe Club, 38
Marquette Club, Chicago, speech
at banquet, 16
to delegates from, 31
thePresident received by, 219
Marshall County, Indiana, to del-
egation from, 156
Maryville, Missouri, reception
address at, 472
Massillon, Ohio, reception ad-
dress at, 282
Medford, Oregon, reception ad-
dress at, 401
Memphis, Tennessee, reception
address at, 315
Merced, California, reception ad-
dress at, 366
Message to Congress, presiden
tial electors, Dec. 9, 1891,
560-63
Chilian affair, Dec. 9, 1891,
558
Chilian affair, Jan. 25, 1892,
564-70
McDaniels, L. W. , extract from
his address, 182
Michigan Club, Detroit, speech
at banquet, 9
Middlebury, Vermont, reception
address at, 517
Miller, Hon. Warner, famous tel-
egram to, 189
Milwaukee German American
Club, address to, 172
Modesto, California, reception
address at, 367
Monterey, California, reception
address at, 379
Moutezuma, Indiana, welcomed
by Gov. Hovey, 480
Montgomery County, Indiana, to
delegation from, 71
Monticello, Illinois, to delega-
tion from, 51
Montpelier, Vermont, address to
Legislature, 527
reception address at, 529
Montt, Senor Don Pedro, his
address to the President, 556
Morgan County, Indiana, to del-
egation from, 70
Morgan County, Illinois, to dele-
gation from, 90
Morristown, Tennessee, recep-
tion address at, 297
Mt. McGregor, New York, birth-
day dinner speech, 510
Muncie, Indiana, reception ad-
dress at, 272 -
Muskegon, Michigan, to delega-
tion from, 159
NEWBURGH, New York, recep-
tion address at, 494
New York City, Washington
centenary speech, 204
Centennial banquet address,
209
Ninth Indiana Cavalry, address
to survivors, 134
Noblesville, Indiana, reception
address at, 104
Normal, Illinois, to students
from, 152
North Vernon, Indiana, recep-
tion address at, 236
Northen, Gov. Wm. J. , welcomes
the President, 303
Nortonville, Kansas, reception
address at, 263
Notification committee, person-
nel of, 36
INDEX TO SPEECHES, ETC.
577
OAKLAND, California, reception
address at, 395
Ogden, Utah, committee escorts
President, 430
Omaha, Nebraska, reception ad-
dress at, 465
addresses to school children,
470
Ontario, California, reception
address at, 340
Orange, California, reception ad-
dress at, 351
Oregon City, Oregon, reception
address at, 406
Orrville, Ohio, reception address
at, 281
Osceola, Pa., reception address
at, 231
Ottumwa, Iowa, speech at Coal
Palace, 255
Oxford College, Ohio, visit from
students, 186
PALESTINE, Texas, received by
Gov.Hogg, 319
Parke County, Indiana, to dele-
gation from, 143
Pasadena, California, reception
address at, 356
Paxton, Illinois, to delegation
from, 89
Pendleton, Oregon, reception ad-
dress at, 423
Pennsylvania gas men, address
to, at Indianapolis, 151
Peo, Umatilla chief, his unique
address to President, 423
Peoria, Illinois, reception ad-
dress at, 242
Peru, Indiana, reception address
at, 102
Philadelphia, speech at Inde-
pendence Hall, 491
remarks at Gen Meade's
grave, 492
Phillipsburg, Pa., reception at,
Sept. 20, 1890, 234
Plainfield, Indiana, to delega
tion from, 26
Plainfield, Vermont, reception
address at, 530
37
Pocatello, Idaho, reception ad-
dress at, 429
Pomona, California, reception
address at, 342
Porter-Columbian Club, address
to members, 158
Portland, Oregon, reception ad-
dress at, 408
Secretary Rusk's address,
411
Postmaster General Wana
maker's speech, 410
Proctor, Vermont, farewell to
New England, 546
Provo City, Utah, reception ad
dress at, 434
Pueblo, Colorado, address to
school children, 448
Mineral Palace speech, 449
Puget Sound, remarks on board
steamship, 415
Pullman, Illinois, to delegation
from, 166
Put- in Bay, Ohio, reception ad-
dress at, 97
Puyallup, Washington, recep
tion address at, 420
RAILROAD Club of Terre Haute,
address to, 73
Railroad clubs of Indiana, ad
dress to, 185
Railroad employees of Indian-
apolis, address to, 47
Railroad employees should be
protected, message, 559
Randolph County, Indiana, to
delegation from, 137
Ransom Post, G. A.R., address
to delegation from, 119
Red Bluff, California, reception
address at, 398
Redding, California, reception
address at, 399
Redwood City, California, recep-
tion address at, 375
Republican State Convention,
speech before, 81
Richmond, Indiana, reception
address at, Feb. 25, 1889, 192
578
INDEX TO SPEECHES, ETC.
Richmond, Indiana, reception
address at, May 14, 1891, 483
Richmond, Vermont, reception
address at, 524
Riverside, California, reception
address at, 352
Roanoke, Virginia, reception ad-
dress at, 290
Rush County, Indiana, to dele
gation from, 86
Rusk, Gov. J. M. , names Gen.
Harrison for a second term,
120
Rusk, Secretary, speech of, at
Portland, Oregon, 411
Rutland, Vermont, reception ad-
dress at, 544
SACRAMENTO, California, address
at State House, 391
Salem, Oregon, address at Capi-
tol, 403
Salida, Colorado, reception ad-
dress at, 445
Salt Lake, Utah, reception ad-
dress at, 431
Chamber Commerce speech,
433
address to children, 434
San Antonio, Texas, reception
address at, 329
San Bernardino, Calif ornia, re-
ception address at, 353
San Buena Ventura, California,
reception address at, 359
San Diego, California, to Indi
ana residents. 347
at citizens' reception, 349
response to Gov. Torres,
350
San Fernando, Calif ornia, recep
tion address at, 358
San Francisco, the arrival ad-
dress, 371
Sutro Heights speech, 372
at Phi Delta Theta banquet,
373
launch of the Monterey, 374
reception at Senator Stan-
ford's, 375
Chamber Commerce speech,
San Francisco, address to vete-
rans, May 1, 384
Palace Hotel banquet speech,
386
at Union League reception,
396
fare\yell to California, 397
San Jose, California, reception
address at, 376
Santa Ana, California* reception
address at, 351
Santa Barbara, California, re
ception address at, 361
Santa Cruz, California, recep-
tion address at, 380
Santa Paula, California, recep-
tion address at, 358
Saratoga, New York, reception
address at, 511
House of Pansa reception,
512
Seattle, Washington, reception
address at, 417
Mr Wanamaker's address,
419
Second Indiana Cavalry, address
to survivors, 134
Seventieth Indiana Infantry,
reunion address, Sept. 13,
1888, 116
reunion address, Aug. 23,
1889, 216
Seventh Indiana Cavalry, ad-
dress to survivors, 131
Seventy-ninth Indiana Infantry,
address to survivors, 176
Seymour, Indiana, reception ad
dress at, 237
Shelby County, Indiana, to del-
egation from, 54
Shenandoah, Iowa, reception ad
dress at, 471
Shoals, Indiana, reception ad
dress at, 288
Sisson, California, reception ad-
dress at,*400
Soldiers' Monument, Indianapo
lis, dedicatory address, 214
South Chicago, Illinois, to dele-
gation from, 166
Springfield, Ohio, to delegation
from, 180
INDEX TO SPEECHES, ETC.
571)
Springfield, Illinois, to delega-
tion from, 52
at Lincoln's tomb, 478
State House address, 475
Springville, Utah, reception ad-
dress at, 436
State Fair, Indianapolis, address
to exhibitors, 136
St. Albans, Vermont, reception
address at, 521
St. Johnsbury, Vermont, recep-
tion address at, 531
St. Joseph, Missouri, reception
address at, 258
St. Louis, Missouri, delegation
from Ransom Post, 119
Loyal Legion delegation,
171
Merchants ' Exchange
speech, 268
at Jockey Club banquet, 270
Sullivan, Indiana, reception ad-
dress at, 238
Sutro, Hon. Adolph, presenta-
tion address to President, 372
TACOMA, Washington, reception
address at, 413
Mrs. Harrison's thanks, 414
Tallapoosa, Georgia, reception
address at, 307
Terre Haute, Indiana, to Rail-
road Club from, 74
response to chair preseuta
tion, 187
reception address at, 239
Texarkana, Arkansas, reception
address at, 318
Texas G. A. R. veterans, visit to
Gen. Harrison, 122
The Dalles, Oregon, reception
address at, 422
Tiffin, Ohio, to delegation from,
159
Tippecanoe County, Indiana, to
delegation from, 78
Tipton, Indiana, reception ad-
dress at, 104
Tipton County, Indiana, to dele-
gation from, 146
Toledo, Ohio, reception address
at, 95
Topeka, Kansas, address to vet
erans, 261
Tower, Minnesota, to delegation
from, 156
Troy, New York, reception ad-
dress at, 500
Tucson, Arizona, reception ad-
dress at, 337
Tulare, California, reception ad-
dress at, 364
Tuscola, Illinois, reception ad-
dress at, 478
Twenty-sixth Indiana Infantry,
address to survivors, 134
UNION CITY, Indiana, reception
address at, 274
Union ex-prisoners war address
to delegates, 130
VALLEY FALLS, Kansas, recep-
tion address at, 264
Vanderberg County, Indiana, to
delegation from, 79
Vergennes, Vermont, reception
address at, 518
Vermilion County, Indiana, to
delegation from, 90
Vermilion County, Illinois, to
delegation from, 126
WABASH County, Indiana, to
veterans from, 42
to delegation from, July 12,
1888, 43
to delegation from, Sept 25,
1888, 143
Wanamaker, Hon. John, address
at Atlanta, 306
address at Portland, 410
address at Seattle, 419
Washington, D. C., to Augusta
Exposition Committee, 549
to Methodist Ecumenical
Conference, 551
the return to, May 15, 1891,
489
Waterbury, Vermont, reception
address at, 525
Watson ville, California, recep
tion address at, 378
580 INDEX TO SPEECHES, ETC.
Wells County, Indiana, to dele- Windsor, Vermont, reception
gation from, 163 address at, 537
Western tour, 1890, personnel of Wooster, Ohio, reception ad-
party, 234 dress at, 280
Whitehall, New York, reception
address at, 513
Winchester, Indiana, reception XENIA, Ohio, reception address
address at, 274 at, 486
PPC
mm.
Rf • •
'it
•
, :
•
n
,
.
.
.
Live Music Archive
Librivox Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Internet Arcade
Console Living Room
Books to Borrow
Open Library
TV News
Understanding 9/11