Читать бесплатно онлайн книгу Speeches of Benjamin Harrison, Twenty-third President of the United States
SPEECHES
of
BENJAMIN HARRISON
Twenty-third President of the United States
A COMPLETE COLLECTION OF HIS PUBLIC ADDRESSES FROM FEBRUARY, 1888, TO FEBRUARY, 1892, CHRONOLOGICALLY CLASSIFIED; EMBRACING ALL HIS CAMPAIGN SPEECHES, LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE, INAUGURAL ADDRESS, AND THE NUMEROUS SPEECHES DELIVERED DURING HIS SEVERAL TOURS; ALSO EXTRACTS FROM HIS MESSAGES TO CONGRESS
COMPILED BY
CHARLES HEDGES
NEW YORK
UNITED STATES BOOK COMPANY
SUCCESSORS TO
JOHN W. LOVELL COMPANY
142 TO 150 WORTH STREET
Copyright, 1892, by Charles Hedges
PREFACE.
It is not the purpose of this book to present a few selections of oratory, laboriously prepared and polished, or occasional flashes of brilliant thought. From such efforts, prepared, perhaps, after days of study and repeated revision, 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 surpassing 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 servants, 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 unawares. The studied pose is wanting, but the pictures are true to life.
There are included the letter of acceptance, the inaugural address, the letter to the commercial congress, extracts from his last annual message to Congress, his patriotic 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 these are among the best models of statesmanlike thought 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, they 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 malignity 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 sameness 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 adapting 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 comrades the old life of tent and field, he never for one moment forgot the great principle whose banner he had been chosen to uphold. Protection of American industry was 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 belief that a valuable service has been rendered in collecting 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 because they are a valuable contribution to American literature.
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 celebration 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 persons 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 Elizabeth 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 distinguished 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 University at Oxford, Ohio, from which institution he graduated in 1852.
He studied law in the office of Judge Belamy Storer at Cincinnati, and in March, 1854—with his bride, Miss Caroline W. Scott, to whom he was wedded October 20, 1853—he located at Indianapolis 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 August 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 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 terrific 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 Lincoln, 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 reporter he resumed his law practice, forming a partnership with Albert G. Porter and W. P. Fishback. About 1870 Mr. Fishback retired, and the firm became Porter, Harrison & Hines; upon Governor Porter's retirement W. H. H. Miller took his place, and in 1883 Mr. Hines retired, and, John B. Elam coming in, the firm became Harrison, Miller & Elam.
In 1876 Hon. Godlove S. Orth was nominated as Republican candidate for Governor of Indiana, but pending the canvass he unexpectedly withdrew. In this emergency, during General Harrison's absence on a trip to Lake Superior, the Central Committee substituted his name at the head of the ticket. Undertaking the canvass 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 Convention.
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. Blaine 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 exciting 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 Convention 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, 1888.
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 evening; the vice-presidents were: Hons. F. B. Stockbridge, C. G. Luce, J. H. Macdonald, Austin Blair, H. P. Baldwin, David H. Jerome, R. A. Alger, O. D. Conger, Chas. D. Long, E. P. Allen, James O'Donnell, 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 Birney, 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 McKinley, Jr., Ohio; Hon. Joseph G. Cannon, Hon. John F. Finerty, and General Green B. Raum, Ill.; Hon. L. E. McComas, Md.; and Hon. James P. Foster, N. Y.
General Harrison responded to the sentiment, "Washington, the republican. The guarantee of the Constitution that the State shall have a republican form of government 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 evening 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 rejuvenated 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 here to-night so well attests. I am here rather to be helped myself, to bathe my soul in this high atmosphere of patriotism and pure Republicanism [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—"Washington, 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 suggested, in the fact that there is nothing in the history of our party, nothing in the principles that we advocate, to make it impossible 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, impeding 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 Washington;" 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 comprehensiveness of the words he uttered, like the comprehensive declarations of the Holy Book, we may find admonition and guidance, 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 Republican 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, "We, the people, have ordained;" by the people, because it is in all its departments administered by them; for the people, because 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 foundation 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 Revolution was fought, for this and its more perfect security the Constitution 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 equality 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 that 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 of the South have been deprived of their influence in choosing representatives 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. [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 or 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 '65. 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 Constitution 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 consequence 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 subject to any restraint or is denied the fullest exercise of the elective franchise. Shall we not insist that what is true of those who 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 prosperous 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 seeking 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 Democratic 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 the North, those who love the Constitution and a free and equal ballot, those who, while claiming this high privilege for themselves, 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 conspirators, 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 Parliament, but the voice of free America protesting against these centuries of wrongs has had a most potent influence in creating, stimulating 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 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 representation 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 anywhere 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 disturbing 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 Chicago—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; 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. Finney, C. B. Niblock, Wm. A. Lamson, S. E. Magill, R. D. Wardwell, Fred. G. McNally.
President Lauman was toastmaster, and opened the banquet 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 President 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 follows:
Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Marquette Club—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 Frémont, 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 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 organized 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 proscribed 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 difficulty 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 Republican administration were to assemble armies to maintain the authority of the Nation throughout the rebellious States. It organized 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 Chickamauga; and not only did it conduct this great 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 Republican President, has forever immortalized the party that accomplished 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 expedited, 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 unfriendly 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 again 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 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 statesmanship.
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 whole 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, countrymen, 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 subjection. We have brought the ship into the wide and open sea of prosperity, and is it to be suggested that the party that has accomplished 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 unfinished 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 government 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 administration 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 each 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 30,000 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 understanding 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 agitation 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 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 anything, 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 extinct 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 was 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 which 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 doctrine 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 market, we ought to keep it for ourselves. And yet this new captain on the bridge seems to congratulate himself on the fact that the voyage is still prosperous notwithstanding the change of commanders; 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 has 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 question 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 of 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 Declaration; 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 fill all the streams of the South with prosperity, and demanding only that the terms of the surrender at Appomattox shall be complied with. When that magnificent act of clemency was witnessed, 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 election, 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 corrupted, 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 coming 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.
INDIANAPOLIS, JUNE 25, 1888.
Nomination Day.
A few hours after the receipt of the news of the nomination 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 thereafter, 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 Republican 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 remarkable 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 Indiana 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.]
Scarcely had the Danville visit concluded before another organization from Hendricks County arrived, the Republican 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 furnished 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 Seventieth 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 neighbor 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 demonstration 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 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!"] Such congratulations, as well as those of my neighbors who sympathize 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 magnificent 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 General 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. Thompson; 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 election 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 Twentieth 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 remember especially that broad and deep grave at the foot of the Resaca hill where we left those gallant comrades who fell in that desperate 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 Chattanooga 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 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 California 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 impressed 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 politically. 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 deportment and character of the representatives of Indiana at Chicago, I was greatly pleased. When I heard of their affectionate devotion, of their discreet and wise presentation of the claims of Indiana, I was still further 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 support 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 victory 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 been chosen in preference to me. I feel that it was the situation in Indiana and its relation to the campaign that was impending 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 campaign 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!" "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 honorary 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 recollect 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 principles 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 service 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 my home now and whenever you are in Indianapolis.
On the evening of June 30 several thousand citizens, irrespective of party, paid their respects to General Harrison; 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 common 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 unblanched 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 tavern. Every man had in some humble place a chair by some fireside 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 preservation of the country was disbanded without tumult or riot or any public disturbance. It had covered the country with the mantle 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 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 citizenship, 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, assembled on the lawn and congratulated the Republican nominee through its spokesman, Mr. Ben D. Bagby. General Harrison's response was as follows:
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 interest 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 parties. 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 Emancipation 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 enemy. I shall never forget a scene that I saw when 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 remember an aged woman, over whom nearly a century of slavery must have passed, pressed forward to see the welcome banner that told 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 Proclamation 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-fires. 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 committee 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 representing the Republican National Convention arrived under escort at the residence of General Harrison, No. 674 Delaware Street. The following delegates comprised the committee:
Judge Morris M. Estee of California, Chairman; Alabama, A. H. Hendricks; Arkansas, Logan H. Roots; California, Paris Kilburn; Colorado, Henry R. Wolcott; Connecticut, 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 Updegraff; Kansas, Henry L. Alden; Kentucky, George Denny; Louisiana, Andrew Hero; Maine, Samuel H. Allen; Maryland, 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; Virginia, Harry Libby; West Virginia, C. B. Smith; Wisconsin, 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; Wyoming, 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 consultation the representatives of the Republican party of the United States should have concluded that the great principles enunciated in the platform adopted by the convention could be in some measure 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 convention. I accept the nomination with so deep a sense of the dignity of the office and of the gravity of its duties and the responsibilities as altogether to exclude any feeling of exultation or pride. The principles 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 prosperity that we may expect an unusual popular interest in the campaign. 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 Emancipation 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. Clisbee, 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 notification of his nomination, they were the recipients of congratulations of a unique character from the Tippecanoe Club of Marion County, a political organization composed exclusively of veterans who had voted for General William Henry Harrison in the campaigns of 1836 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 hundred years old.
On the afternoon of the fourth, ninety-one of these veterans 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, without self-laudation, now say that upon that foundation you have since created a modest structure of respect for me? [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 inheritance 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 for the presidency, that he came out of Virginia 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 descendants 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 intelligent 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, wandered 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 intercourse.
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 marshal 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 congratulatory address on behalf of the visitors. General Harrison, responding, said:
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 testimony 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 perfectly. [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 even of the moods of men which is essential to the successful prosecution 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 commercial travellers. When I first came to Indianapolis to reside your profession was not known. The retail merchant went to the wholesale 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 included many ladies. The leading members were F. R. Gilson, Ambrose H. Rowe, Wm. S. Farmer, G. M. Valentines, W. B. Shanklin, E. M. Elick, A. J. Kidd, C. C. Sweet, O. B. Hipp, R. M. Jones, W. L. Hogan, James McDonald, 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 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 soldier, General Alger, was among the first and among the most cordial to extend to me his congratulations and the assurance of his earnest support in the campaign. I am sure it cannot be otherwise than that the Republicans of Michigan will take a deep interest 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 government 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 Indiana 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:
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 coming to me every day, presented by individual comrades and committees, but more frequently 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 criticism of having favored particular localities or particular organizations, 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 will be impossible for me to accept your invitation. But in doing this, I want 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 comradeship which brings you here. I am glad to know—and I have many manifestations of it—that the peculiar position in which 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 Wabash 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 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 demonstrative 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 altogether 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, intelligent 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 people, acknowledging, and I hope loving, one flag and one Constitution. [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 delegation of the day, led by H. S. Travis, Clark Cook, B. Johnson, Henry Taylor, Frank Knapp, and Robert L. Cox of Fowler. They were presented by Col. A. D. Streight. General Harrison said:
Colonel Streight, Fellow-citizens, and Comrades—I am very grateful 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 cosmopolitans, citizens of the world. I prefer to say that I am an American citizen [applause], and I freely confess that American interests 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 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 quantities, 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 manufacturing 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 industry 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 Constitution 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 world around shall be faithfully respected. [Applause and cries of "That's right!"] I thank you again for this visit, and, if it be your pleasure, and your committee 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 O. Mason, J. O. Hurst, J. N. Harmon, and Mr. Denny, an octogenarian, 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 we 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 stimulated 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 war 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 of a majority or not [applause]; the law throws the ægis 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 modification or repeal of laws which are unjust or oppressive. To the law 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 centreing 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 concluded 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 signals 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 locomotive 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 demonstrates. [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 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 industry," because it has to do with transportation and not with production. 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 substantial 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-night 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 slanderous. [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.]
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. Quinton, 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. General 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, however, 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 neighbors. 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 distinguished 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 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 advocated 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 neighbors 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 citizens this day, led by Major A. N. Grant. The Lincoln League Club of Kokomo was commanded by its President, 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. Landen, Dr. James Wright, H. E. McMonigal, Edward Klum, Charles Pickett, and A. R. Ellis. Rev. Father Rayburn, a voter in the campaign of 1840, was spokesman. General Harrison, in reply, said:
Father Rayburn and my Howard County Friends—I think I may accept this demonstration as evidence that the action of the Republican convention at Chicago has been accepted with resignation 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 enterprise 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 thrifty county town. You have been conspicuous for your interest and devotion to the cause of education—for your interest in bringing forward the coming generations well equipped for the duties of citizenship. I congratulate you to-day that a new era of prosperity 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 appreciation of the prices of the staple products of your farms, but you will notice it in the expansion of the market for those more perishable products which cannot reach a distant market and must be consumed near home. Is it not, then, time for you, as thoughtful citizens, whatever your previous political affiliations may have been, to consider the question, "What legislation will most promote 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 consideration. [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 opportunity 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 Springfield, 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. 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. Ayers, 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 visitors. General Harrison's reply was one of his happiest speeches. He said:
General Hunt and my Illinois Friends—I thank you for this cordial 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 Constitution 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 Yates 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 conspiracies 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 written 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 Lincoln. 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 conspicuous. 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 agitation—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 without 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 abolition of slavery has opened a gateway of progress and material development 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.
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 steadfastness, the courage, the unflinching faithfulness of the Republicans 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 Company F, commanded by Captain Endsley, who still lives among you. [Cheers.] Many of the surviving members of these companies still dwell among you. Many others are in the far West, and they, too, from their distant homes have sent me a comrade's 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 that his end of the regiment should get to the top of that hill as 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 citizens of the State of Indiana, that there is always in such campaigns a danger 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 civilization—endowed by the bounty of the State, maintained by public taxes, and intended for the care and education of the disabled classes of our community, ought to be lifted above all party influences, benefit or control. [Cheers.] I believe you can do nothing 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 magnificent evidence that I am still held in kindly regard by the Republicans of Shelby County, and bid you good-night. [Cheers.]
INDIANAPOLIS, JULY 24.
On the twenty-fourth of July Champaign County, Illinois, 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 campaign emblems.
Prominent members of the delegation were Rev. I. S. 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 1836, 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 personal 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 we 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 assault, 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 our 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 exercise 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.]
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 associations. But we do not limit our praise of the loyalty and faithfulness 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 political 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 complimenting them, I take them as the type of that great army that Illinois 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, 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 frequent 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 evidence 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 Constitution might be preserved and the flag honored. [Applause.] General Logan was indeed, as your spokesman has said, "the typical 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 example 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 Massachusetts 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 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 marvellous 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 before 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 Republicans to-day. I recall the time when you were disfranchised; when your race were slaves; when the doors of our institutions of learning 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 obstruction 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.]
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. Callihan, 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 members 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 assured 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 principles 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 products. [Cheers.] Some resort to statistics to show that the condition of the American workman is better than that of the workman of any other country. I do not care now to deal with statistics. One fact is enough for me. The tide of emigration from all European countries has been and is towards our shores. 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 the swallow knows the land of summer. [Applause.] They testify that here there are better conditions, wider and more hopeful prospects 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. [Applause and cries of "That is 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 prosperity, 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 necessities 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 disability, 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 legislation will best subserve your interests, the interests of your families, and the greatness and glory of the Nation of which you are citizens. [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 reproached by the suggestion that we have not thoroughly protected the colored man in the South. This has been urged as a reason 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.]
The Clay County miners had not concluded their reception 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, William Maddox, John A. Fullwiller, M. B. Herr, and Dr. F. C. Vandervoort. Their orator was Dr. W. H. H. Adams, formerly President of the Illinois Wesleyan University. General Harrison, 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 before." I suppose you are a remnant that could not get into line yesterday. 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 inheritance. 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 Parliament 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 prosperity of the community in which you dwell in kindly association with your Democratic friends promotes your interests and theirs alike. Thanking you for this visit, I will ask you to excuse me from further speech. [Applause.]
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. Williams, 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 Warsaw. Judge H. S. Biggs made the presentation address. General Harrison replied as follows:
Mr. Biggs and my Kosciusko 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 learning; 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 Representatives are apportioned to districts, and the National and State Constitutions contemplate that these districts shall be equal, so that, as far as possible, each citizen shall have, in his district, the same potency 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 will teach men of all parties that party success is not to be promoted at the expense of an injustice to any of our citizens. [Applause.] 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 has his full and equal influence in determining what the law shall be. I hope this question will not be forgotten by our people until we have secured in Indiana a fair apportionment for legislative and congressional purposes. [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 possessed 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 Electoral 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 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 disfranchised 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 Vernon. 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 Vernon Club, delivered the address. General Harrison, in response, 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 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 American 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.]
We 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 protective 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 appropriations. 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 defence 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 reducing our revenues to the level of our needful and proper expenditures 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.]
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. Forkner, 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 successfully, 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 we 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 a while, into the face of an audience like this. [Applause.]
You came from a county that has been a bulwark of republicanism 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 Republican party has accomplished for the country a great work in the brief period of its life. It preserved the Nation by a wise, courageous and patriotic administration. What that means for you and your posterity, what it means for the world, no man can tell. It would have been a climax of disaster for the world if this Government of the people had perished. The one unsolved experiment of free government was solved. We have demonstrated the capacity 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 American 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, commissioned to an American State, shall take an English ship to Liverpool to find another English ship to carry him to his destination. We are not to be frightened by the use of that ugly word "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 their interests equally with 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 ever 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 Michigan 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.] The people of the United States have a great crisis before them. The question as to the life and prosperity of our industrial institutions 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 survivors 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 Martinsville. Hon. G. A. Adams spoke for the visitors.
General Harrison, responding, said:
Mr. Adams and my Morgan and Brown County Friends—In previous 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 campaigns. 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 companies 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 your county, went into the service from very high motives. They heard the call of their country, saying: "He that loveth father or mother or wife or child or houses or lands more than me is not worthy of me," 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 painful 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 sacrifices 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 remarks 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.]
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 delegation was marshalled by John H. Burford, W. W. Thornton, T. H. B. McCain, John S. Brown, E. P. McClarkey, 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 coming to witness their interest in the great issues which are presented 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 administration. 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 has won. Among the great achievements 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. [Applause.] 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 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 find 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 who 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 campaign occurred August 4, the occasion being the visit of the Harrison and Morton Railroad 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 residence.
At the head of the column rolled the model of a monster locomotive, emitting fire and smoke and bearing the significant number 544, Hundreds of stores and residences along the line of march were illuminated.
At the head of the visiting club marched its officers: President, D. T. Downs; Secretary, Chas. E. Carter; Treasurer, Benj. 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 departments the best skill in the highest mechanic arts, and in all, even in the lowest grade of labor in connection with railroad management, 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 importance 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 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 themselves 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 accomplish 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 commerce 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 find steady employment at good wages, and for 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 selfishness; it begins at home, and he who has the care of his own family 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 something.
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. I 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 6, General Harrison received a visit from one hundred members of the Kansas City Blaine 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 concluding he introduced Miss Abbie Burgess, who presented the General a beautiful badge inscribed "The Kansas City Blaine 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 principles—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 Republicans 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 prejudices 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 declaring 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.
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 Lincoln 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. Throckmorton, 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. Henderson, 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—I am 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 consciences 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 conservative 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 convention preference, but I have always believed that convention preferences should be free in the Republican party [applause], and that no prejudice should follow any Republican on account of that preference. As party men, we will judge a man by his post-convention conduct.
The second delegation comprised fifteen hundred citizens from Vanderburg County. The Tippecanoe Club of Evansville, with sixty veterans, led the column.
Leaders in the delegation were ex-Congressman Heilman, Henry S. Bennett, Chas. H. McCarer, J. E. Iglehart, W. A. Wheeler, C. R. Howe, J. W. Compton, S. B. Sansom, S. A. Bate, John H. Osborn, John W. Davidson, Henry Ludwig, Wm. Koelling, A. S. Glover, J. W. Roelker, 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 influence 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, saying 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 division 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 the defence of their country. He referred in the highest terms to General Shackelford and his service in the hour of his country's need. "I greet you to-day," he continued, "as Republicans—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 every 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 convention 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, Vanderburg County.
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, Vanderburg County; Thomas H. Nelson, Vigo County.
Judge Gardner, a delegate from Daviess County, introduced 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 committee, was followed by a tumultuous scene rarely witnessed outside of a national convention, the demonstration lasting nearly ten minutes. Chairman Calkins finally succeeded in introducing—"the next President"—and General 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 reception crowns a long series of friendly acts on the part of my Republican 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 attracting 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.]
INDIANAPOLIS, AUGUST 14.
Godfrey Commandery, Knights Templars, of Chicago, colored men, en route to the Grand Conclave at Louisville, paid their respects to General Harrison on 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, Indiana, 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. R. Gray was their spokesman.
General Harrison, in reply, said:
Colonel Gray and my Hamilton County Friends—The demonstration 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 altogether 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 in our census returns, to those things which belong to the higher man—his spiritual and moral nature. [Applause.] I congratulate 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, consecrated, 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 beneficent 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 principles 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 [cries of "Don't stop!"], I am sure you will be content with these brief remarks, though they are altogether an inadequate return 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 uniformed members of the Young Men's Republican Club of Decatur, led by Captain Wm. M. Strange and Wm. Frazier; 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 responsibilities. The conscientious man will not contemplate them without 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 coming 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.] Well, 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 working-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 principle 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 purposes. 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 motive, 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 propose the revision believe in taking thought of our American workingmen in fixing the rates, or will leave them to the chance effects of a purely revenue tariff. [Applause.]
Now, having spoken once already to-day, 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, contributed fully five thousand visitors on the 15th of August. Rush County sent twenty Republican clubs, mainly township 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. Kiplinger, 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 questions.
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 dissolved 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.] 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 educational and benevolent institutions, proud of her Christian homes, 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 distinction 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 applause.]
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 amendment, to which a great majority of our people gave their sanction, has removed the impediments which stood in the way of progressive 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 representatives. 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 presently 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, A. F. Collins, Hon. James N. Templer, Major J. F. Wildman, 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. N. 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 living, 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 dumping-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 of cheap foreign labor. [Applause and cries of "That's it!"] The disastrous effects upon our workingmen and working-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 is allowed free competition in our market. We should protect 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 applause.] 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 greetings. [Applause.] There has been a desire expressed that the reception of these delegations should be individualized; that Delaware 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 Illinois, aggregating 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 conspicuous in this delegation.
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 County, Illinois, contributed the largest delegation 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—Bartholomew, 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 visitors, commanded by A. J. Ralph, Marshal of the delegation. 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, Ill.; Judge C. R. Starr, Kankakee County, Ill.; Prof. Wm. D. Saunders, Jacksonville, Ill.; Major W. T. Strickland, Bartholomew County, Ind.; Col. Sam'l P. Oyler, Johnson County, Ind.; Hon. H. H. Connelly, Vermilion 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 Hundred 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 sympathies. 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 intolerant of but one thing: disloyalty to the flag and to the Union 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 very general. It would not be in good taste for me to make too close or too personal an application 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 Lafayette, 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 Travellers' Association, comprising G. C. Webster, C. H. McPherson, John V. Parker, W. H. Schmidt, D. W. Coffin, Harry Gates, R. 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. Barnhardt, 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 Terre Haute—I thank you for this most 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 therefore 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 "He 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 persuasive in speech and address; you are honest for the love of integrity, and do not forget that you must again face your customer 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. [Laughter 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 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 doctrine that free competition with foreign products is the ideal condition 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 allowing 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 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 Executive 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 and 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 coming 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 public questions that are to be settled in November. [Applause.] I choose rather to regard it as a pledge that this interest you manifest 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 discussion of public questions; I would not at all put myself between you and these great, important issues. I would, in all I may say, 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 government. We are here in the individual possession of better opportunities of development, of a larger prosperity, and of more individual 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 campaign 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 continued—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 workingmen 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.]
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 on 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 people 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 the very great pleasure of presenting to you General Benjamin Harrison, the Republican candidate for the presidency. [Applause.]
As Governor Foster concluded, General Harrison arose midst a shout of welcome and spoke as follows:
My 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 reception. 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 the most potential agencies in settling our title to the great Northwest. 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 consideration of every American voter. We are prosperous. [Cheers.] The story of our prosperity, of our development in wealth, of our achievements 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. Harrison, our grateful appreciation of the kind and thoughtful hospitality which has been shown to us by the people of these islands. [Prolonged applause.]
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 Pittsburg 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 mentioning; 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 prosperity. Does it need to be demonstrated that if we reduce our tariff to a revenue level, if we abolish from it every consideration of protection, 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 upon the production of our own shops. This, then, is the issue. Take it to your homes. There are many confusing and contradictory statements 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 working people enjoy now, whether it will 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!"] Here in 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 populous, 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 questions; 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 unfavorably. May I not appeal to you to review these questions, to throw off the shackles of preconceived notions and of party prejudices, 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 working 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 provided to greet personally any of you who may desire to greet me. [Prolonged applause and cheers.]
HUNTINGTON, IND., 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 interests 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 responded to the demands which were made by the general Government 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.
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 extremely 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 workingmen 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 citizen, 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 may be, 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.]
KOKOMO, IND., SEPTEMBER 4.
The city of Kokomo welcomed the party in the evening with a brilliant illumination by natural gas. Three thousand 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 manufacturing 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 anticipate, be better advanced by the continuance of the protective policy or by its destruction?
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 manifestation 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 me acknowledge a new debt of gratitude to my friends of Hamilton County, who have often before made me their debtor, and bid you good-night.
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. Escorted 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 enjoyment 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 acknowledge 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 members 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.]
INDIANAPOLIS, SEPTEMBER 6.
On the night of Sept. 6 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 demonstrations 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. Ransdell, Thomas F. Ryan, W. H. H. Miller, John B. Elam, Dr. Austin Morris, Col. I. N. Walker, Wm. L. Taylor, W. A. Pattison, Capt. O. H. Hibben, Charles Murray, Ed. Thompson, Charles Wright, S. D. Pray, J. E. Haskell, 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-meeting 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 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 Pettijohn, on behalf of the young ladies, presented the general a handsome bouquet and made an address. General Harrison 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 years 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 Northwestern 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. Garner, and Dr. J. R. King, of Beloit, Kan. Colonel W. C. 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 convention, 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 Chicago 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 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 cannot 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 contest 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. Protection is assailed as unconstitutional in law, or as vicious in principle, and those who hold such views sincerely cannot stop short of an absolute elimination from our tariff laws 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 assault 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 understand that in the end the argument compels free trade in all competing products. This end may not be reached abruptly, and its 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 effective resistance.
The Republican party holds that a protective tariff is constitutional, 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 inevitable result of the increased offering of foreign goods in our market. 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 advantages 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 system. 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 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 performed 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 importation of laborers under contract to serve here will, however, afford very inadequate relief to our working people if the system of protective 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 different, 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 obvious. 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 races whose ultimate assimilation with our people is neither possible 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 conclusive, and are now so generally accepted as such that the question has passed entirely beyond the stage of argument. The laws relating to this subject would, if I should be charged with their enforcement, be faithfully executed. Such amendments or further legislation as may be necessary and proper to prevent evasions of the laws and to stop further Chinese immigration would also meet my approval. 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 themselves upon the voters who are robbed of their rightful influence in public affairs. The individual or community or party that practises 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 disfranchisement of a single legal elector by fraud or intimidation is a crime too grave to be regarded lightly. The right of every 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 citizenship. 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 disfranchisement 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, 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 Territories 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 admissions 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 with 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 executed 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 convention upon this subject. The law should have the aid of a friendly interpretation and be faithfully and vigorously enforced. All appointments under it should be absolutely free from partisan considerations and influence. Some extensions of the classified list are practicable and desirable, and further legislation extending the reform to other branches 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 suggest removals from office. I know the practical difficulties attending the attempt to apply the spirit of the civil service rules to all appointments and removals. It will, however, be my sincere purpose, 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 timorousness. 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 commercial 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 undoubtedly equal to the prompt and peaceful solution of the difficulties 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 questions, we submit them to the people. Their intelligent patriotism 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 fourteenth reunion of the Seventieth Indiana Regimental Association at Clayton village, Hendricks County.
The Seventieth Regiment was recruited from the counties of Hendricks, Johnson and Marion. Of the one hundred and fifty-nine regiments sent to the front by Indiana, but few, if any, achieved a more honorable and distinguished 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 Harrison 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 regiment 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 successively chosen President of the Regimental Association.
Several hundred veterans, with their families, accompanied the General from Indianapolis, and were greeted at Clayton by five thousand people. Three hundred veterans of the Seventieth saluted their Colonel as he walked 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 regiment); Captain Tansey, now Judge, of Winfield, Kansas; Captain Willis Record, of Nebraska; Lieutenant Hardenbrook and Private Snow, of Kansas, and Cyrus Butterfield, of Minneapolis. The orator of the day was Comrade J. M. Brown.
General Harrison, as President of the Association, presided. The proceedings were opened with prayer by Comrade 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 Harrison.
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 sunshine 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 most 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 our 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. We are glad to-day to be together, yet our gladness is sobered. As I 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 contribution 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 impression 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 Peninsula. 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 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 according 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 relation I occupy to the public or to a political party might be absolutely 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 tastefully 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 associated 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 comradeship 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, Ill., en route home from the Columbus encampment. They were introduced by General E. F. Dutton, colonel of the One Hundred and Fifth Illinois Infantry, and commander of the Second Brigade, Third Division 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 Columbus, Ohio, encampment. The first to arrive was one hundred veterans of Ransom Post, St. Louis—General Sherman's Post—who were introduced by Col. Murphy. General 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 organization that can give a better reason for its existence than the Grand Army of the Republic. [Cries of "Good!"] It needs no argument to justify it; it stands unassailable, and admits of no criticism from any quarter. Its members have rendered that service to their country in war, and they maintain now, in peace, that honorable, 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 overflowing with marching veterans from Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Wisconsin, and Kansas, headed by the National Drum Corps of Minneapolis, and commanded by Department 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 Wisconsin, 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 Harrison appeared he was tendered an ovation. Governor Rusk said: "Comrades—I consider it both an honor and a pleasure in introducing to you the President of the United States for the next eight years—General Benjamin Harrison." [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 subjected 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 encampment at Columbus was so largely attended, and was in all its circumstances so magnificent a success. The National Encampment 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 worth while 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 march 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 accustomed 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 survived the last war. [Laughter.] He was laid away in an early grave or enrolled on the list of deserters. But he would be mistaken 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. [Applause.] 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 Columbus encampment. They wore the regulation blue uniform and carried muskets. Captain Brant introduced his company, 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 me no 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 company 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 interest, 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. Y. 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 Hahn, 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, Wm. 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 Fellow-citizens—There is something very distinctive, very interesting, and very instructive in this large delegation of workingmen 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 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 question 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-glass.
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 importation 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 promote 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 this 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 industries 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 sweet 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 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 conscience 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 contest 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 Republican 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 protected 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, accompanied the club. In the absence of President Brady their 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 Club of Cook County, Ill.—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 unmoved 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 Americans we so much value—local home rule. [Cheering.] I am sure that you who have, in your own persons or in your worthy representatives, 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? [Continuous 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 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 American 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 persuaded 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 comfortable, 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 exceedingly 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 News, was spokesman. General Harrison, in response, 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, but a deep conviction that matters of great and lasting consequence to your country are involved in this campaign. Your representative 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 confidence 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 insidious that our people pay it without knowing it. That is a very unhappy condition, indeed. But his difficulties are not all surmounted 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 speedily 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 developed 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 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 we 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 visitors, 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 assembled about this platform, but there has been none that has in a higher degree attracted my interest or touched my heart. [Applause.] 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 will 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, who 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 division. [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 early 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 Kentucky 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 Kentucky 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 manufacturing 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 uniting 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 attendance 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; E. H. Williams, of Indianapolis, Vice-President; Chaplain 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 Virginia, 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 treatment 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.]
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, Ind., 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 congratulate 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 veterans 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. Ireland, A. Powell, James Woodworth, G. B. Joiner, W. M. Coney, Dr. J. H. Gillam, Dr. Scull, editors E. A. Nye and M. S. Taliaferro, of Watseka; also W. H. Howe, of Braidwood, father of the "Drummer Boy of Vicksburg." Robert Meredith, of Onargo, spoke on behalf of the colored members of the delegation, and Capt. R. W. Hilscher, of Watseka, for the veterans. La Porte County, Ind., was represented by a large delegation, the Michigan City detachment commanded by Major Biddle, Uriah Culbert, and Major Wood. The Laporte City clubs were led by Wm. C. Weir, Marshal of the delegation. Other prominent members were S. M. Closser, W. C. Miller, Frank E. Osborn, J. N. Whitehead, M. L. Bramhall, Nelson Larzen, Samuel Bagley, Brook Travis, Wm. Hastings, S. A. Rose, Swan Peterson, and editor Sonneborn. The presentation address was made by Col. J. W. Crumpacker, 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 keeping. 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 understood. 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 protection have been silenced. On the other hand, the Republican party declares by its platform and by its speakers that a protective 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 representatives 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 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 Democratic 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 citizens 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 objection 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 difference 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 working-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 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 venerable Geo. P. Augustine, of Braceville, Ill., 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 Portsmouth 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 Republican principles. A campaign that enlists the earnest and active co-operation 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 of the Second Cavalry, spoke on behalf of the veterans. General Harrison replied:
Colonel Bridgland and Comrades—I am fast losing my faith in men. [Laughter.] This morning a representative or two of this 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 apprehensions 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 Washington 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.] I am 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 differences!"] 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.
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 committee, representing the Board of Commissioners of the Exposition, was headed by Chairman Goodale and President 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 understanding 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 which you have addressed me. What your speaker has said as to the 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 reports 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 discriminating duties upon competing foreign products has much to do with the better condition of our working people. I welcome you 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 recollection 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 reapers 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 direction. 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. [Applause.]
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 Tippecanoe 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. Shockley, 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. Russell, B. D. Halfhill, Isaac McKinney, J. W. Williams, Eli Clark, J. C. Andrews, T. J. Cartwright, and Albert Martin. 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 contingent. 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 representatives 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 Constitution 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 forget, 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. [Applause.] 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 communities in the world. [Applause.] You do not forget, farmers though you are, that 95 per cent. of the product of your farms is consumed at home, and you are too wise to put that in peril in a greedy search after foreign trade. [Great applause.] You will not sacrifice these great industries that have created in our country a consuming 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 repressive hand upon our infant manufactories and attempted to suppress them all, furnishes the first object-lesson she gave 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 with 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 question. [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 we 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 Republican Commercial Travellers' Association of Chicago and accompanied by the celebrated Second Regiment Band. They were escorted to the Harrison residence by the Columbia Club and 200 members of the Republican Commercial 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. Bristol, A. C. Boyd, Geo. H. Green, and Secretary H. A. Morgan.
General Harrison's appearance was signalized by a remarkable demonstration. Col. H. H. Rude 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' Association 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, efficiency, and intelligence of the commercial travellers of our country. [Cheers.] The contribution you make to the success of the business communities with which you are identified is large and indispensable. I do not doubt that one of the strongest props of Chicago's commercial greatness would be destroyed 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 American progress. It is gratifying to know that your interest is enlisted 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 contribution 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 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 published 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 command 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 population, 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-owners, 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 disappearing. [Applause and a voice, "Exactly!"]
"For many years they have competed with us in some manufactures in foreign markets, and their peculiar skill in the contrivance of labor-saving machinery daily increases the number of articles 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 suggestive 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 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 commercial dependency on our Southern coast was disappointed. The South is under no stress to purchase foreign help by trade concessions. 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 Carolina, 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 obstacles of deficient capital and scanty labor are rapidly disappearing." And I am sure there is a "New South"—shackled as it is by traditions and prejudices—that is girding itself to take part in great industrial rivalry with England, which Mr. Spence so much deprecates. 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. [Applause.] They will no longer leave Pennsylvania without an active 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! Never!"] 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 protection 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.
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. Benson, W. W. McCune, Joseph H. Jordan, and A. A. Hargrave, 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 Wabash 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 exceedingly cordial. I remember well when I first visited your county in 1860, almost a boy in years, altogether a boy in political experience. I was then a candidate for Reporter of the Decisions of the Supreme Court of this State. You had in one of your own citizens, 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 the nominee of the party, I came into your county. I think from that day to this my name has never been mentioned in any convention for any office that I have not had almost the unanimous support 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 continued through nearly thirty years.
There is one word on one subject that I want to say. Our Democratic 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 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 which 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 interest, or in any other way—think the Government bond at the current 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. annual interest. Now, suppose this surplus money were to remain all that time in the banks without bringing any interest to the Government; 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 President of the United States involves a public peril. Now, 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 present method of dealing with the surplus. But if you still object to paying the market premium when we buy these bonds, see how it works the other way. The banks deposit their bonds in the Treasury 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 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 delegations, 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 76 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 organization, 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 Wm. 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; Harris Loomis, 84; Dan'l Melhousen, 80; Sam'l McCleland, 80; Judge John Otstot, 86; James Park, 80; Daniel Short, 83; John Saul, 86; George Snoffer, 85; David Taylor, 87; Jacob Taylor, 88; J. D. Fuller, 82, and Luther Hillery, aged 90, who knew William Henry Harrison before 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, assisted by M. W. Pershing, James Johns, John F. Pyke, R. J. McCalion, Isaac Booth, J. Q. Seright, and J. Wolverton. Judge Daniel Waugh, of Tipton, was the mouthpiece of the delegation.
From Elkhart County, Indiana, came a notable delegation 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 platform 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 together indissolubly in a Government strong enough to protect its humblest citizen wherever he may sojourn. [Prolonged cheers.] Your State institutions are based, like those of the Nation, upon the great principles of human liberty and equality, and are consecrated 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 1840, I fell upon a card signed by fifteen Democrats of Orange, N. J., giving their reasons for leaving the Democratic 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 sufficient: 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 country 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 President should occupy his time during the first term in electioneering for his re-election to a second term!" [Loud laughter and applause.] 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 twenty 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 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 rebellion 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. [Applause.] 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 condition 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 will be a sufficient answer: Suppose five men are associated in a business corporation. The corporation suffers losses and its capital is impaired. An assessment becomes necessary, and three members pay their assessments 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 providing for the repayment of the tax was killed in the House of Representatives, not by voting it down, but by filibustering, a majority 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 show 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 with 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 fearlessly 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.]
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, and the Republican Veteran Club of Findlay, 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 intrenchments 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 respect 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 responsibility 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 impulse 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 citizen make his influence felt for the truth upon those who are near him. [Applause.] You come from a community that has 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 neighboring 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 destructive 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 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 with experiences of these workingmen 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 contest between two rival establishments here, or between two rival countries, that that shop or that country that pays the lowest wages—and so 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 wages 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 system works with your labor organization 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 what 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 cannot 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 not the condition of our working people on the average comparatively a great deal better than that of any other country? [Applause and cries of "Good! Good!"]
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. McElwaine, a fellow-workman.
General Harrison addressed them and said:
Gentlemen—It is very pleasant for me to meet you to-night in my own home. The more informal my intercourse can be made with my fellow-citizens the more agreeable it is to me. To you, and all others who will come informally to my home, I will give a 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 for me in the fact that it was the native State of a mother who, though nearly forty years dead, still lives affectionately 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 commonwealth 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 business enterprise and prosperity, but to the strengthening of the Republican ranks, which have been depleted by the invitations which the agricultural States of the West have extended to our enterprising 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 Republican nominee. From Cleveland came 800 voters; their organizations were the Harrison Boys in Blue—200 veterans of the Civil War—commanded by Gen. James Barnett; 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 suggestive 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 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 generous 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 admiration 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 have arisen for settlement. You have always been faithful to an honest currency. [Cheers.] The enticements of depreciated money did not win you from sound principle. You bravely stood for a paper currency 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 doubt that you will as wisely and as resolutely help to settle that also.
As the great German chancellor, that student of human government 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 and 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 stopping 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.
General Harrison, responding, said:
My Illinois Friends—It is a source of great regret to me that we are not able to make your reception more comfortable. The chill of this September evening and of this open grove is not suggestive 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 make 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 world 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 victory 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 principles 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 unfavorable 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 expectations 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.]
INDIANAPOLIS, OCTOBER 2.
The fourteenth week of General Harrison's public receptions 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 Harrison residence. Prominent in the delegation were Dr. Fred Barnett, Capt. Elisha Marcom, S. F. White, Chas. R. Haines, John Owens, W. N. Shepard, N. 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 Marshall 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 spokesman. 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. Astley, 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-operation which has been already extended to us in this campaign by 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 gentlemen 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 especially adapted to the manufacture of steel. Within the four years since these mines were opened they tell me that about a million 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 particular 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. [Applause.] 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 wages of unskilled labor. [Applause.] 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 beneficent influence all our population. [Applause.] I thank you for your visit, and will be glad to meet any of you personally who desire 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 700 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 before 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 I entertain to-night. I beg you to excuse further public speech and to allow me to receive personally such of you as care to speak to me. [Applause.]
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. Crotty, H. J. Stevens, Aldrich Tateum, Louis Kanitz, A. E. Yerex, and N. 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 McCormick, Albert Corthell, Capt. Edward Jones, Edward Naylor, and J. B. Rosenburger. The wife of Gen. Wm. H. Gibson was an honored guest of the delegation, accompanied 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 Bailey, 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 manifestations 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 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 thickened, 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 commerce as well as in a lasting political union. [Applause.] These great Western States will not respond to the attempt to excite prejudice 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 civilization, 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, perhaps, we shall not consume at home we think a New England market 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 system is finding its response, and many of those who are opposed to us upon other questions are committing such questions to the future for settlement, while they help us to settle now and for an indefinite future the great question of the preservation of our commercial independence. [Applause.] The Democratic party has challenged our protected industries to a fight of extermination. 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 American 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 imputation 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 imputation 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.
Fountain County, Indiana, sent 2,000 visitors, led by a club of Tippecanoe veterans. Among their representative 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 manifestations of the interest of great masses of our people in the principles represented by the Republican party are to me increasingly impressive. I am glad to-day that Indiana has opportunity to welcome a delegation from the magnificent State of Wisconsin. [Cheers.] It offers a fitting opportunity to acknowledge my personal 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 touching 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 national 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 prejudices 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 community of planters.
When they assert their belief in a protective tariff, by supporting the only party that advocates that policy, the question of a free ballot, so far as it is a Southern question, will be settled forever, for they will have the power to insist that those who believe with them shall vote, and that their votes shall be counted. [Applause.] 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 bringing foreign gold here to augment our store. [Cheers.] I will not detain you further. These daily demands upon me make it necessary 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 6, was one of the great days of the campaign. The first delegation, numbering 2,000, came from Wells and Blackford counties, Indiana. Conspicuous in their ranks were two large uniformed clubs of ladies, one from Montpelier, and the Carrie Harrison Club of Bluffton. In the Wells County contingent were many 1840 veterans and 21 newly-converted Democrats. Their leaders were Asbury Duglay, D. H. Swaim, B. W. Bowman, Peter Ulmer, Silas Wisner, Joseph Milholland, J. C. Hatfield, and T. A. Doan. J. J. Todd was their spokesman. Prominent in the Blackford delegation were Frank Geisler, H. M. Campbell, W. L. Ritter, Eli Hamilton, R. V. Ervin, W. A. Williams, John Sipe, and John Cantwell, of Hartford City; J. C. Summerville, Wm. 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 dependent 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 symmetrical 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 citizens. Your spokesmen have referred with an honest pride to the counties from which you have come, and that is well. But I would like to suggest to you that every political community and neighborhood 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-thinking men. One of those things is this patent and open fact: that the great benevolent institutions of this State, instead of being operated upon the high plane that public charities should occupy, are being operated and managed upon the lowest plane of party purposes 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 declared 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 gallant 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 inaugurated 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 believe 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 maintain 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 leaders 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 prostituted our benevolent institutions to party and now to personal advantage? 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. [Applause.] I believe the material prosperity of Indiana, much more the honor, will be advanced if her people in this State election shall rebuke the shameless election frauds that have recently scandalized 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, Pullman, South Chicago, and the town of Lake. They numbered over 3,000, and arrived in the evening, after stopping en route at Danville, Ill., and Crawfordsville, Ind., to participate in demonstrations. The Chicago contingent comprised 800 members of the Union Veteran Club, commanded by its President, Capt. John J. Healy; 600 members of the Veteran Union League, led by Capt. James J. Healy; the Blaine 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 organizations. 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. Foster.
The visitors were met by about 10,000 citizens and escorted to Tomlinson Hall. When General Harrison appeared, accompanied by Judge E. B. Martindale, Chairman of the Reception Committee, there ensued a scene never to be forgotten by those who witnessed it. The 6,000 people present arose to their chairs, surrounding the visiting veterans, all frantically waving flags and banners. The demonstration continued without abatement for ten minutes. General Harrison stood as if dazed by the spectacle. Finally ex-Governor Hamilton, of Illinois, secured quiet, and on behalf of the veterans addressed the gathering, 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, enthusiasm, 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 distills its equal blessings upon the homes of the rich and the poor. [Cheers.] I am especially glad that these skilled, intelligent workmen coming out of your great workshops have manifested, by their coming, to their fellow-workmen throughout the country their appreciation of what is involved for them in this campaign. [Prolonged 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 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 that 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 abandoning the policy of protection for that of a revenue tariff, we are again confronted by the suggestion that the principle of protection shall be eliminated from our tariff legislation. Have we not had enough of such experiments? Does not the history of our tariff 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 proposition—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 were to accept the more recent utterances of its leader, protesting that that was 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 wild 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 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 increase the amount that is brought from abroad, by just so much we diminish the amount that is made at home, and in just that proportion 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 American shop can run at all is that it shall reduce the wages of its employees 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; therefore 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.]
INDIANAPOLIS, OCTOBER 11.
In point of numbers the greatest day of the Indiana campaign 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. Blaine, who was the guest of General Harrison.
From the balcony of the New-Denison Hotel General and Mrs. Harrison, accompanied by Mr. Blaine, 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; Corporal 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 column, 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.
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 Crawfordsville. 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 afternoon, 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 his 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. Morrill, C. H. Sampson, and W. B. Gates.
On October 18 a party of distinguished railroad magnates visited General Harrison. They were Hon. Chauncey M. Depew, J. D. Layng, H. W. Webb, Sam'l Barton, Seward 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 150 survivors of the Eleventh Indiana Regiment, headed by their first colonel, Gen. Lew Wallace, and General McGinnis.
INDIANAPOLIS, OCTOBER 13.
Two large and influential organizations visited General Harrison on October 13. From Milwaukee came 400 members of the Young Men's Republican Club—Paul D. Carpenter, President; George Russell, Secretary. Among other prominent members were Samuel Chandler, who organized the pilgrimage, and Walter W. Pollock. President Carpenter—son of the late Senator Matt Carpenter—and C. S. Otjen, a wage-worker, were spokesmen for the club.
The second and largest delegation was the Chicago German-American Republican Club—Franz Amberg, President; F. J. Buswick, Secretary. 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, N. F. Plotke, and Alderman Tiedemann. As General Harrison entered the hall the reception exercises were opened by the Maennerchor 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 delegations, 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 contest 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 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 naturally born 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 Willich and the Thirty-second Regiment of Indiana Volunteers (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 impetuous 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 Republican 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 our 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 them 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 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 return my most friendly regards and good wishes to every 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, escorted 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 Republicans with the delegation were Auditor of State Poe, Adjutant-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 by the Columbia 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 distinguished 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 Republicans are as staunch 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 country 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 protection, 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 tariffs 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.]
Later in the day about 100 survivors of the Seventy-ninth Indiana Regiment, led by their first colonel, General 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 comrades 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 recognize 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.
INDIANAPOLIS, OCTOBER 20.
For the fifth time during the campaign the commercial travellers visited General Harrison, each time with increased numbers. On Saturday, October 20, under the supervision of the Commercial Travellers' Republican Club of Indianapolis—G. C. Webster, President; Ernest Morris, Secretary—they held one of the largest and most successful demonstrations of this remarkable campaign. Their gathering partook of a national character, as large numbers of "drummers" were present from Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, Illinois, Missouri, West Virginia, and Vermont, while every important city in Indiana sent its complement.
The visitors were received by a local committee of travelling men, consisting of Fred Schmidt, Chairman; C. McPherson, Wm. Faucet, Joseph Stubbs, Jeff Cook, Ed. Allcott, J. C. Norris, M. P. Green, Geo. White, O. W. Morman, 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 feature of which was a big bull covered with a white cloth on which was printed the words—"John Bull rides the Democratic 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 reviewed by General and Mrs. Harrison. Later in the day the visitors were received at Tomlinson Hall. When General Harrison appeared a great demonstration occurred. 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; Chas. P. Banks, of Brooklyn; John L. Griffiths and John C. Wingate, of Indiana.
General Harrison said:
My Friends—Four times already, I believe, the commercial travellers 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 involved in this campaign. [Cheers.] I do not need to repeat what I have said on former occasions, that I very highly value the respect 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 personal 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 manufacturers 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 becomes impossible, except by the reduction of the scale of American wages to the level of the wages paid abroad? [Cheers.] Certainly 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 they enjoy greatly more than those enjoyed by the working people of any other land. [Cheers.] Certainly you 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 American 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 that prevail among out 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 appreciate 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. Thomes, Vice-Commander; S. J. Wilkerson, Chief of Staff; J. W. R. Cline, Sam'l Hoffman, and J. H. Arbogast, Aids. The brigade, comprising 2,300 voters, each wearing 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. Second 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 Ohio Friends—The people of Clarke County owed me a visit. I recall, with great pleasure, two occasions 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 intelligent interest manifested by the masses of your people in public questions, and the enthusiasm with which you rallied to the defense of Republican principles. [Cheers.] We are glad to welcome 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 Indiana. [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 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.] Your city and county—your merchants and farmers—are prosperous, 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 respect 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 delegations, one that equalled that which I see before me now. [Great cheering.]
At the conclusion of General Harrison's speech General 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 prolonged 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 better 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 Robinson, 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 demonstration 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 Senator 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. When 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 Typographical Union, presided, and in his address among other things said:
We are here to repudiate the authority claimed by a few professional 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 workingmen 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 friendship 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 convict labor.
As General Harrison arose to respond there was another prolonged outbreak; he appeared greatly moved, and delivered probably his most earnest speech of the campaign. The demonstrations of approval were very marked, especially as the General warmed up to his denials of matters 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 fellow-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.] There are reasons why this should be so that will readily occur to your minds, and to some of 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 endorsement 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 principle 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 workingman, with all its accompaniments and appendages, is not a perversion of anything 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 nativity or descent. Many of them are now enrolling themselves on the side of protection for American labor—this created the necessity 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 of great principles; that it would be fought out upon the high plains of truth, and not in the swamps of slander and defamation. [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 defense 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 conclusive with the wage-earners of America. The policy of the Democratic 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 inevitable result of the triumph of the principles advocated by the Democratic party. [Cheers.]
And now you will excuse further speech from me. [Cries of "Go on!"] There are here several distinguished advocates of Republican principles. You will be permitted to hear now, I understand, from the Hon. Henry W. Blair, a Senator from the State of New Hampshire, who has been so long at the head of the Committee on Education and Labor in the United States Senate; and to-night in this hall you will be permitted to listen to the Hon. William McKinley, Jr., of Ohio. Now will you allow me again to thank you out of a full heart for this cordial tender of your confidence 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.]
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. D. Shaw and Chief of Staff Geo. Butler. The Porter Flambeau Club, the Harrison Zouaves, 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 procession from the balcony of the New-Denison and then repaired to Tomlinson Hall, where the General's arrival was signalized by an extraordinary demonstration. Chairman Finch introduced Hon. Mathew O'Doherty, of Louisville, 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 committee 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 campaign 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 and its social order all depended upon our pursuing such a policy in our legislation that we should have in America a class of workingmen earning adequate wages that would bring comfort into their homes and maintain hope in their hearts. [Cheers.] A despairing 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 enterprise 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 Indianapolis to bear with you the duties and responsibilities of private citizenship, or shall be honored with office, I shall never forget this great demonstration of your friendliness. [Prolonged cheers.]
General Harrison's unequalled campaign of speech-making 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 youngest teacher in the college, addressed Mrs. Harrison on behalf 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 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 remembered.
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 convenient seat upon a log or a cracker-box know what infinite luxury there was in even a common Windsor chair. We are glad to welcome 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.
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 Republican 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 Harrison 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 inaugurated at Indianapolis and continued three days. The exciting 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 Indianapolis 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 delegation 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 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 Governor—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, JANUARY 1, 1889.
The installation of officers by George H. Thomas Post, G. A. R., on the night of New Year's Day, '89, was attended 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 regiment. 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 Harrison—speaking in public for the first time since his election—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 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 greatest 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 institutions than this. Our country, separated as it is by the great watery waste, need have no fear of interference by foreign countries with its institutions; nor do we desire in any way to interfere with them. Nor, indeed, is there any fear of another civil war. The only fear we should now have is a corruption or suppression 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 25, 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 and joined the cortége 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 numerous 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.]
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 Harrison said:
My Friends—I thank you for this cordial gathering and demonstration. 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 sacrifices 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 travellers. General Harrison said:
My Friends—I have so long had my home among you that I cannot 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 citizens [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 welcomed by Ohio's chief executive, Gov. J. B. Foraker, and his wife; and, notwithstanding the hour, some 20,000 people 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:
My 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 Sanger, 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 committees. The Executive Committee, having supervising charge of all matters pertaining to the celebration, comprised the following prominent Washingtonians: Alex. T. Britton, Chairman; Myron M. Parker, Vice-Chairman; Brainerd H. Warner, Treasurer; Henry L. Swords, Secretary; 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. McIlhenny, Crosby S. Noyes, Albert Ordway, Charles B. Purvis, Melancthon L. Ruth, Thomas Somerville, Orren G. Staples, John W. Thompson, Henry A. Willard, George B. Williams, 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 brilliant staff led the great column in its march to and from the Capitol. The veterans of the Seventieth Indiana Regiment 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 concourse 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 beginning 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 observe 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 occasion when I assume that the whole body of the people covenant with me and with each other to-day to support and defend the Constitution 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 day 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 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 constitutional scheme of government. When the centennial of the institution of the judicial department by the organization of the Supreme 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 Constitution, 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 aggregate of five of the smaller States in 1790. The centre of population when our national capital was located was east of Baltimore, 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 aggregate wealth, marvellous as it has been in each of those directions. 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. 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-enforced 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 emancipation 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 carrying trade for their ships, was 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 manufactures 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 preservation 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 we 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 no 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 heard in the depths of the earth as well as in the sky—men were made free and material things 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 diversification of pursuit among the people which brings wealth and contentment. The cotton plantation will not be less valuable when the product is spun in the country town by operatives whose necessities 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 manufacturing 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 neighborhood, 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 manufacturing enterprises which have recently been established in the South may yet find that the free ballot of the workingman, without distinction of race, is needed for their defence as well as for his own? I do 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 convictions 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 Administration, 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 Executive to administer and enforce in the methods and by the instrumentalities pointed out and provided by the Constitution all the laws enacted by Congress. These laws are general, and their administration should be uniform and equal. As a citizen may not 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 advantage 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 ways. It demoralizes those who practise it, and destroys the faith of those who suffer by it in the efficiency of the law as a safe protector. 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 influential classes in a community either practise or connive at the systematic violation of laws that seem to them to cross their convenience, 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 penalties, is the only attractive field for business investments and honest labor.
Our naturalization laws should be so amended as to make the inquiry 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 unintelligible 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 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 coming 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 interference with European affairs. We have been only interested spectators 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 between 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 environment.
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 people. 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 exclusively American that our entire inattention to any events that may transpire elsewhere can be taken for granted. Our citizens domiciled 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 require 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 having fairly obtained them by methods and for purposes entirely consistent with the most friendly disposition toward all other powers, our consent will be necessary to any modification or impairment 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 whose 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 consideration and fidelity. A high sense of duty and an ambition to improve 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 certainly 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 creditable to seek public office by proper methods and with proper motives, and all applications will be treated with consideration; but I shall need, and the heads of departments will need, time for inquiry 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 having 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 civil service. The ideal, or even my own ideal, I shall probably not attain. Retrospect will be a safer basis of judgment than promises. We shall not, however, I am sure, be able to put our civil service upon a non-partisan basis until we have secured an incumbency that fair minded men of the opposition will approve for impartiality 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 extraordinary 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 favoritism 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 resulting 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 industry.
The construction of a sufficient number of modern war ships and of their necessary armament should progress as rapidly as is consistent 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 premeditation 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 impossible.
Our pension law should give more adequate and discriminating 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 themselves 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 throwing 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 inefficiency 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 interest that the election in each shall truly express the views and wishes of a majority of the qualified electors residing within it. The results 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. If in any of the States the public security is thought to be threatened by ignorance among the electors, 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 suffrage, 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 ballot which is the first condition and obligation of good citizenship? The man who has come to regard the ballot-box as a juggler'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 submitted 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 avenues of hope shall be free to all the people.
I do not mistrust the future. Dangers have been in frequent ambush 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 advantage 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 intercourse 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 promoted education, virtue, justice, and patriotism among the people.
