Chapter XIII: Part 13

_My Fellow-citizens_--I wish all of you could have seen what I have
seen in this extended but hasty visit through some of the great States
of the central West, the broader view which we get as we journey
through this country of the capabilities of its soil, of the beauties
of its landscape, of the happiness of its homes, but, above all, of
the sturdy manhood of its people, can but be useful to every public
man and every patriot. [Applause.] No one can make such a journey
as we have and look into the faces of hundreds of thousands of his
fellow-citizens and see how here in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa,
Kansas, and Missouri they are everywhere characterized by a sturdy
independence and intelligent thoughtfulness and manhood, and doubt
the future of this country of which they are citizens. Nothing can
shake its repose as long as this great mass of people in these homes,
on these farms, in these shops and city dwelling-places are true to
themselves and to their children. Not every one can hope to reach the
maximum of human wealth or enjoyment, but nowhere else is there so
general a diffusion of human comfort and the conveniences of life as
in this land of ours. You must not, then, show unthankfulness to the
framers of our great Constitution or to God by indulging in gloomy
forebodings or in unreasonable complaint. He has not promised that
everywhere and every season the fields should give full returns. He
has promised that the food of man should not fail, and where else
is famine unknown? Other countries have now and then appealed for
philanthropic help from abroad to feed their population, greater or
less. The United States has always a surplus after its people are fed,
and for this we should be thankful. I have been told everywhere that
though crops in some respects and in some places have been short, the
general prosperity is very great. Everywhere I have been told that no
wheel is idle, and that no hand is idle that seeks employment that
honest bread may come to his household. I believe that we are on an
upward grade of prosperity, if we will be brave and hopeful and true,
that shall lead us perhaps to a development and an increase of wealth
we have never before attained. And now, my fellow-citizens, thanking
you for this friendly morning greeting, I bid you good-by. [Applause.]
Let me have the pleasure, however, of introducing to you my valued
associate at Washington--Secretary Tracy. [Applause.]

CRESTLINE, OHIO, OCTOBER 13.

The people of Crestline honored the President with a large assembly, prominent among whom were: Mayor P. W. Pool, Hon. Daniel Babst, John G. Barney, Alexander Hall, B. F. Miller, John Whittle, John F. Castle, C. F. Frank, Dr. W. P. Bennett, L. G. Russell, A. Howorth, G. B. Thrailkill, E. S. Bagley, D. L. Zink, J. P. Davis, T. P. Kerr, W. R. Boyd, E. W. Hadley, Samuel Gee, C. C. Hall, D. S. Patterson, and Richard Youngblood.

Mayor Pool welcomed and introduced the President in a brief address. General Harrison responded:

_My Fellow-citizens_--Already some seven or eight times this
morning, beginning before breakfast, I have been called upon to talk
briefly to my fellow-citizens who have gathered at the various points
where we made brief stops at their request. The story I must tell
you is the same old story I have been telling them--that I am very
grateful for your friendly expressions and presence; very grateful for
the kindliness which speaks through those who address me, and for the
kindness which appears in all your faces. It is pleasant to know that
as against all enemies of our country we are one, that we have great
pride, just pride in our birthright as American citizens, just pride
in the country of our adoption as to those who have found a home here
with us. It is the people's land more than any other country in the
world. Mr. Lincoln felicitously expressed it to be a "government of
the people, by the people, for the people." [Applause.] They originate
it; they perpetuate it. If it does not miss its purpose it is
administered for their good. [Applause.] And so to you upon whom the
burden of citizenship now rests, you who have the care of these homes
and the responsibilities of womanhood; to these lads who will soon be
citizens, and to these girls who are coming on to womanhood, to all I
express my thanks for your friendly greeting. [Applause.] To every one
of you I wish the most abundant success; that every home represented
here may be a typical American home, in which morality and purity and
love sit as the crowning virtues and are household gods. Our country
is prosperous, though not all have attained this year the measure of
success which they had hoped for. If there was any shortness of crops
anywhere, already the fields are green with the promise of another
year. Let our hearts be hopeful, let us be faithful and true, and the
future of our country and our own comfort are assured. [Cheers.]

MANSFIELD, OHIO, OCTOBER 13.

At Mansfield, the home of Senator Sherman, a large assemblage greeted the President, prominent among whom was the distinguished Senator, and Hon. Henry C. Hedges, Frank W. Pierson, J. M. Waugh, Frank K. Tracy, Maj. Joseph S. Hedges, Hon. W. S. Kerr, J. R. Brown, Nelson Ozier, Capt. W. S. Bradford, Hon. W. S. Cappeller, Hon. W. M. Hahn, Capt. Joseph Brown, G. U. Harn, Maj. W. W. Smith, Geo. C. Wise, Judge Jas. E. Lowry, James McCoy, John Crum, Ried Carpenter, and Wm. C. Hedges, Jr.

Senator Sherman introduced the President, who spoke briefly, saying:

_My Fellow-citizens_--We stop so frequently upon this journey and
our time at each station is so brief, that I cannot hope to say
anything that would be interesting or instructive. I thank you most
sincerely for these friendly manifestations. I am glad to be permitted
to stop at the home of your distinguished Senator and my friend.
[Cheers.] I am sure, however you may differ from him in political
opinion, the people of Mansfield and of Ohio are proud of the eminence
which he has attained in the counsels of the Nation and of the
distinguished service he has been able to render to his country not
only in Congress but in the Treasury Department. [Cheers.] He is twin
in greatness with that military brother who led some of you, as he did
me, in some of the great campaigns of the war, and they have together
rendered conspicuous services to this country, which we, as they, love
with devoted affection. We have so many common interests and so much
genuine friendliness among the American people that except in the very
heat and ardor of a political campaign the people are kind to each
other, and we soon forget the rancor of these political debates. We
ought never to forget that we are American citizens; we ought never to
forget that we are put in charge of American interests, and that it
is our duty to defend them. [Applause.] Thanking you again for your
presence and kindliness, I bid you good-by. [Applause.]

WOOSTER, OHIO, OCTOBER 13.

At Wooster, the seat of the well-known university, the presidential party received a rousing greeting, especially from the students with their college cry. At the head of the Committee of Reception was the venerable Professor Stoddard, formerly professor of chemistry at Miami University when Benjamin Harrison attended that institute. Among other prominent townsmen who received the President were: Hon. M. L. Smyser, Hon. A. S. McClure, Jacob Frick, Col. C. V. Hard, Capt. Harry McClarran, Dr. John A. Gann, Dr. R. N. Warren, Capt. R. E. Eddy, Lieut. W. H. Woodland, W. O. Beebe, Dr. J. D. Robison, Wm. Annat, John C. Hall, Enos Pierson, R. J. Smith, Samuel Metzler, Geo. W. Reed, C. W. McClure, A. G. Coover, A. M. Parish, Anthony Wright, Abram Plank, J. S. R. Overholt, Jesse McClellan, David Nice, Andrew Branstetter, Charles Landam, Wm. F. Kane, Capt. Lemuel Jeffries, Sylvester F. Scovel, D.D., O. A. Hills, D.D., Jas. M. Quinby, R. W. Funck, and Harry Heuffstot.

Congressman Smyser introduced the President, who said:

_My Fellow-citizens_--If anything could relieve the sense of
weariness which is ordinarily incident to extended railroad travel,
it would be the exceeding kindness with which we have been everywhere
received by our fellow-citizens, and to look upon an audience like
that assembled here, composed in part of venerable men who experienced
the hardships of early life in Ohio, of some of those venerable women
who shared those labors and self-denials of early life in the West,
and in part of their sons, that gallant second generation, who, in the
time of the Nation's peril in 1861, sprang to its defence and brought
the flag home in honor [applause], and in part of these young men here
undergoing that discipline of mind which is to fit them for useful
American citizenship, full of the ambitions of early manhood, and, I
trust, rooted in the principles of morality and loyalty [applause],
and in part of these sweet-faced children, coming from your schools
and homes to brighten with their presence this graver assembly. Where
else in the world could such a gathering be assembled? Where else so
much social order as here? The individual free to aspire and work,
the community its own police officer and guardian.

We are here as American citizens, having, first, duties to our
families, then to our neighborhood--to the institutions and business
with which we are connected--but above all, and through and by all
these duties, to our country and to God, by whose beneficial guidance
our Government was founded, by whose favor and protection it has
been preserved. [Applause.] Friendly to all peoples of the world, we
will not thwart their course or provoke quarrels by unfriendly acts,
neither will we be forgetful of the fact that we are charged here
first with the conservation and promotion of American interests, and
that our Government was founded for its own citizenship. [Applause
and cheers.] But I cannot speak at further length. I must hurry on to
other places, where kind people are impatiently awaiting our coming,
and to duties which will be assumed and undertaken with more courage
since I have so often looked into the kind faces of the people whom
I endeavor to serve. [Applause.] Let me present to you now, and I do
so with great pleasure, one of the gentlemen called by me under the
Constitution to assist in the administration of the Government--one
whom I know you have learned to love and honor as you are now
privileged to know--Gen. Benjamin F. Tracy, the Secretary of the Navy.
[Cheers.]

ORRVILLE, OHIO, OCTOBER 13.

At Orrville, Wayne County, it was not contemplated to stop; but so large and enthusiastic was the crowd the President held a brief reception. Among the prominent townsmen who welcomed him were: A. H. Walkey, S. N. Coe, A. E. Clark, J. W. Hostetter, A. Dennison, N. S. Brice, D. J. Luikheim, and John Trout.

In response to repeated cries of "speech," the President said: "Fellow-citizens--The American people are very kind"--at this point the train started, and the President closed abruptly by saying-"and I feel sure that they will here excuse my failure to make a speech." There were loud shouts of laughter at the President's readiness as the train pulled out.

MASSILLON, OHIO, OCTOBER 13.

At Massillon several thousand people assembled and great enthusiasm prevailed. The Committee of Reception consisted of Hon. William M. Reed, Mayor of the city; Prof. E. A. Jones, Hon. J. Walter McClymonds, Hon. S. A. Conrad, William F. Ricks, Clement Russell, and Joseph Grapevine, Esq. The Grand Army veterans and school children were present in force. Mayor Reed made the welcoming address.

President Harrison, responding, said:

_Mr. Mayor and Fellow-citizens_--The burden of obligation connected
with this visit is put upon me by the enthusiasm and magnitude of this
welcome which you have extended to me. It gives me pleasure to stop
for a brief moment in a city widely celebrated for its industries, and
among a people widely celebrated for their virtues and intelligence.
[Cheers.] It was especially gratifying as we passed in your suburbs,
one of these busy hives of industry, to see upon the bank, waving
with hearty cheers, the operatives in their work-day clothes. It is
of great interest to know that you have these diversified industries
among you. Your lot would be unhappy and not prosperous if you were
all pursuing the same calling, even if it were the calling to which I
belong, the profession of the law. [Laughter.]

It is well that your interchanging industries and pursuits lean upon
and help each other, increasing and making possible indeed the great
prosperity which you enjoy. I hope it is true here that everybody is
getting a fair return for his labor. We cannot afford in America to
have any discontented classes, and if fair wages are paid for fair
work we will have none. [Cheers.] I am not one of those who believe
that cheapness is the highest good. I am not one of those who believe
that it can be to my interest, or to yours, to purchase in the market
anything below the price that pays to the men who make it fair living
wages. [Great cheering.] We should all "live and let live" in this
country. [Cheers.] Our strength, our promise for the future, our
security for social happiness are in the contentment of the great
masses who toil. It is in kindly intercourse and relationship between
capital and labor, each having its appropriate increase, that we
shall find the highest good, the capitalist and employer everywhere
extending to those who work for human rights a kindly consideration
with compensatory wages. [Cheers.]

Now, to these children and Grand Army friends who greet me here, I
say, thank you and God speed you and good-by. [Cheers.]

CANTON, OHIO, OCTOBER 13.

Canton, the home of Hon. William McKinley, Jr., gave the President a most cordial and clamorous greeting. The G. A. R. and other organizations were out in full force. Among the leading citizens who welcomed the Chief Executive were: W. K. Miller, W. L. Alexander, Judge J. P. Fawcett, J. M. Campbell, Judge J. W. Underhill, Andrew D. Braden, Col. J. E. Dougherty, Col. J. J. Clark, N. Holloway, and Capt. C. T. Oldfield.

Major McKinley introduced the President, who addressed the large assemblage, saying:

_My Fellow-citizens_--The inconvenience which you suffer to-day,
and under which I labor in attempting to speak to you, comes from the
fact that there are more of you here than can come within the range
of my voice, but not more, I assure you, my fellow-citizens, than I
can take and do take most hospitably in my regard. [Cheers.] It gives
me great pleasure to stand here in the prosperous and growing city
of Canton. I am glad to be at the home of one with whom I have been
associated in Congressional duties for a number of years, and who in
all personal relations with me, as I believe in all personal relations
with you, his neighbors, has won my regard, as I am sure he has won
yours [cheers]; and without any regard to what may be thought of the
McKinley bill, I am sure here to-day you are all the good neighbors
and friends of William McKinley. [Cheers.] Kind-hearted and generous
as he seems to me, I am sure he has not failed in these social
relations, whatever judgment you may have of his political opinions,
in making the masses of the people proud of him as their distinguished
friend. [Cheers.]

You have here to-day the representatives of men from the shops,
from the railroads, from the stores, from the offices of your city.
You are living together in those helpful and interchanging relations
which make American life pleasant and which make American cities
prosperous. The foundation of our society is in the motto that every
man shall have such wages as will enable him to live decently and
comfortably, and rear his children as helpful and safe and useful
American citizens. [Cheers.] We all desire, I am sure--every kindly
heart--that all the relations between employers and workmen shall be
friendly and kind. I wish everywhere the associations were closer and
employers more thoughtful of those who work for them. I am sure there
is one thing in which we all agree, whatever our views may be on the
tariff or finance, and that is, there is no prosperity that in the
wide, liberal sense does not embrace within it every deserving and
industrious man and woman in the community. [Cheers.] We are here all
responsible citizens, and we should all be free from anything that
detracts from our liberties and independence, or that retards the
development of our intelligence, morality, and patriotism.

I am glad here to speak to some, too, who were comrades in the great
struggle of the Civil War [cheers]; glad that there are here soldiers
who had part in that great success by which our institutions were
preserved and the control and sovereignty of the Constitution and law
were forever established. [Cheers.] To them, and to all such friends,
I extend to-day a hearty greeting, and would if I could extend a
comrade's hand. [Cheers.] And now, my friends, the heat of this day,
the exhaustion of a dozen speeches, made at intervals as we have come
along, renders it impossible that I should speak to you longer. I beg
to thank you all for your presence. I beg to hope that, as American
citizens, however we differ about particular matters of legislation or
administration, we are all pledged, heart and soul, life and property,
to the preservation of the Union and to the honor of our glorious
flag. [Great cheering.]

ALLIANCE, OHIO, OCTOBER 13.

At Alliance the assembly was very large. A Reception Committee, headed by Mayor J. M. Stillwell and comprising the following leading citizens, met the President: Hon. David Fording, H. W. Harris, T. R. Morgan, Wm. Brinker, Madison Trail, Dr. J. H. Tressel, H. W. Brush, W. H. Morgan, Thos. Brocklebank, Chas. Ott, Dr. W. P. Preston, E. N. Johnston, J. H. Focht, W. H. Ramsey, W. W. Webb, E. E. Scranton, Henry Heer, Jr., and Harper Brosius.

Chairman Fording delivered a welcoming address and introduced President Harrison, who in response said:

_My Fellow-citizens_--There is nothing in which the American people
are harder upon their public servants than in the insatiable demand
they make for public speech. I began talking before breakfast this
morning, and have been kept almost continuously at it through the
day, with scarcely time for lunch; and yet, as long as the smallest
residuum of strength or voice is left I cannot fail to recognize these
hearty greetings and to say some appreciative word in return. I do
very much thank you, and I do very deeply feel the cordial enthusiasm
with which you have received me. It is very pleasant to know that
as American citizens we love our Government and its institutions,
and are all ready to pay appropriate respect to any public officer
who endeavors in such light as he has to do his public duty. This
homage is not withheld by one's political opponents, and it is
pleasant to know that in all things that affect the integrity and
honor and perpetuity of our Government we rise above party ties and
considerations. The interests of this Government are lodged with you.
There is not much that a President can do to shape its policy. He is
charged under the Constitution with the duty of making suggestions to
Congress, but, after all, legislation originates with the Congress of
the United States, and the policy of our laws is directed by it. The
President may veto, but he cannot frame a bill. Therefore it is of
great interest to you, and to all our people, that you should choose
such men to represent you in the Congress of the United States as
will faithfully promote those policies to which you have given your
intelligent adhesion. This country of ours is secure, and social
order is maintained, because the great masses of our people live in
contentment and some good measure of comfort. God forbid that we
should ever reach the condition which has been reached by some other
countries, where all that is before many of their population is the
question of bare subsistence, where it is simply "how shall I find
bread for to-day?" No hopes of accumulation; no hope of comfort; no
hope of education, or higher things for the children that are to come
after them. God be blessed that that is not our condition in America!
Here is a chance to every man; here fair wages for fair work, with
education for the masses, with no classes or distinctions to keep down
the ambitious young. We have a happy lot. Let us not grumble if now
and then things are not prosperous as they might be. Let us think of
the average, and if this year's crop is not as full as we could wish,
we have already in these green fields the promise of a better one to
come. Let us not doubt that we are now--as I have seen the evidence of
it in a very extended trip through the West--entering upon an up grade
in all departments of business. [Cheers.] Everywhere I went, in the
great city of St. Louis and the smaller manufacturing towns through
which we passed, there was one story to tell--and I have no doubt it
is true in your midst--every wheel is running and every hand is busy.
[Cheers.] I believe the future is bright before us for increasingly
better times for all, and as it comes I hope it may be so generally
diffused that its kindly touch may be felt by every one who hears me,
and that its beneficent help may come into every home. [Prolonged
cheers.]

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, APRIL 14, 1891.

_Letter to Western States Commercial Congress._

The first Western States Commercial Congress met at Kansas City, Mo., April 14, 1891. Delegations composed mainly of business men, appointed by the Governors of the various States and Territories, were present from the following Western and Southern States and Territories: Alabama, California, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. On motion of Governor Francis, of Missouri, State Senator H. B. Kelly, of Kansas, was chosen Chairman of the Congress and Hon. John W. Springer, of Illinois, Secretary. Letters of regret were read from those who had been specially invited to attend the Congress. Among the letters was the following from President Harrison:

WASHINGTON, April 7.
HON. H. B. KELLY, _Chairman, Kansas City, Mo._:

DEAR SIR--I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter
of March 24, inviting me to attend the meeting of the commercial
congress of the Western agricultural and mining States, to assemble in
Kansas City, April 14 to 19, for the purpose of considering measures
affecting the general agricultural and business prosperity of the
Mississippi Valley States. I regret that it will not be possible for
me to accept this invitation. If I am not detained here by public
business I shall probably start about that time for the Pacific coast
by the Southern route; and if that purpose should be thwarted it will
be by considerations that will also prevent the acceptance of your
invitation.

A public discussion of the conditions affecting agricultural and
business prosperity cannot but be helpful, if it is conducted on broad
lines and is hospitable to differences of opinion. The extraordinary
development of the productions of agriculture which has taken place
in a recent period in this country by reason of the rapid enlargement
of the area of tillage under the favoring land laws of the United
States, very naturally has called attention to the value, and, indeed,
the necessity of larger markets. I am one of those who believe that
a home market is necessarily the best market for the producer, as
it measurably emancipates him in proportion to its nearness from
the exactions of the transportation companies. If the farmer could
deliver his surplus produce to the consumer out of his farm-wagon
his independence and his profits would be larger and surer. It seems
to me quite possible to attain a largely increased market for our
staple farm products without impairing our home market by opening the
manufacturing trades to a competition in which foreign producers,
paying a lower scale of wages, would have the advantage. A policy that
would reduce the number of our people engaged in mechanical pursuits
or diminish their ability to purchase food products by reducing wages
cannot be helpful to those now engaged in agriculture. The farmers
insist that the prices of farm products have been too low--below the
point of fair living and fair profits. I think so too, but I venture
to remind them that the plea they make involves the concession that
things may be too cheap. A coat may be too cheap as well as corn.
The farmer who claims a good living and profits for his work should
concede the same to every other man and woman who toils.

I look with great confidence to the completion of further reciprocal
trade arrangements, especially with the Central and South American
states, as furnishing new and large markets for meats, breadstuffs,
and an important line of manufactured products. Persistent and earnest
efforts are also being made, and a considerable measure of success has
already been attained, to secure the removal of restrictions which we
have regarded as unjust upon the admission and use of our meats and
live cattle in some of the European countries. I look with confidence
to a successful termination of the pending negotiations, because I
cannot but assume that when the absolutely satisfactory character of
the sanitary inspections now provided by our law is made known to
those foreign states they will promptly relax their discriminating
regulations. No effort and none of the powers vested in the Executive
will be left unused to secure an end which is so desirable.

Your deliberations will probably also embrace consideration of the
question of the volume and character of our currency. It will not be
possible and would not be appropriate for me in this letter to enter
upon any elaborate discussion of these questions. One or two things
I will say, and first, I believe that every person who thoughtfully
considers the question will agree with me upon a proposition which is
at the base of all my consideration of the currency question, namely,
that any dollar, paper or coin, that is issued by the United States
must be made and kept in its commercial uses as good as any other
dollar. So long as any paper money issued or authorized by the United
States Government is accepted in commercial use as the equivalent of
the best coined dollar that we issue, and so long as every coined
dollar, whether of silver or gold, is assured of an equivalent value
in commercial use, there need be no fear as to an excess of money. The
more such money the better. But, on the other hand, when any issue of
paper or coined dollars is, in buying and selling, rated at a less
value than other paper or coined dollars, we have passed the limit of
safe experiment in finance. If we have dollars of differing values,
only the poorest will circulate. The farmer and the laborer, who are
not in hourly touch with the ticker of the telegraph, will require,
above all other classes of our community, a dollar of full value.
Fluctuations and depreciations are always at the first cost of these
classes of our community. The banker and the speculator anticipate,
discount, and often profit by such fluctuations. It is very easy,
under the impulse of excitement of the stress of money stringency, to
fall into the slough of a depreciated or irredeemable currency. It is
a very painful and slow business to get out when once in.

I have always believed, and do now more than ever believe, in
bimetallism, and favor the fullest use of silver in connection with
our currency that is compatible with the maintenance of the parity
of the gold and silver dollars in their commercial uses. Nothing, in
my judgment, would so much retard the restoration of the free use of
silver by the commercial nations of the world as legislation adopted
by us that would result in placing this country upon a basis of
silver monometallism. The legislation adopted by the first session
of the Fifty-first Congress I was assured by leading advocates of
free coinage--representatives of the silver States--would promptly
and permanently bring silver to $1.29 per ounce and keep it there.
That anticipation has not been realized. Our larger use of silver has
apparently, and for reasons not yet agreed upon, diminished the demand
for silver in China and India.

In view of the fact that it is impossible in this letter to
elaborate, and that propositions only can be stated, I am aware
that what I have said may be assailed in points where it is easily
defensible, but where I have not attempted to present the argument.

I have not before, excepting in an official way, expressed myself
on these subjects; but feeling the interest, dignity, and importance
of the assemblage in whose behalf you speak, I have ventured, without
bigotry of opinion, without any assumption of infallibility, but as an
American citizen, having a most earnest desire that every individual
and every public act of my life shall conduce to the glory of our
country and the prosperity of all our people, to submit these views
for your consideration.

Very respectfully, BENJAMIN HARRISON.

ACROSS THE CONTINENT, 1891.

President Harrison started on his memorable journey to Texas and the Pacific Coast States at 12:15 o'clock Tuesday morning, April 14, 1891. The party consisted of the President and Mrs. Harrison, Postmaster-General John Wanamaker, Secretary of Agriculture J. M. Rusk, Mr. and Mrs. Russell B. Harrison, Mrs. J. R. McKee, Mrs. Dimmick, Maj. J. P. Sanger, Military Aid to the President, Marshal Daniel M. Ransdell, Mr. and Mrs. Geo. W. Boyd, Mr. E. F. Tibbott, stenographer to the President, and Alfred J. Clark, O. P. Austin, and R. Y. Oulahan, press representatives. At Chattanooga the party was joined by the President's younger brother, Mr. Carter B. Harrison, and wife, and at Los Angeles by Mr. C. L. Saunders.

The train that safely carried the head of the Nation on this great tour was a marvel of mechanical perfection unrivalled in equipment. Mr. Geo. W. Boyd, General Assistant Passenger Agent of the Pennsylvania Railroad, prepared the schedule and had charge of the train throughout.

No predecessor of President Harrison ever attempted the great task of travelling 10,000 miles, or delivering 140 impromptu addresses within the limit of 30 days--an achievement remarkable in many respects. His long-extended itinerary was an almost continuous series of receptions and responses, and there is no instance where any man in public life, subjected to the requirements of a similar hospitable ordeal, has acquitted himself with greater dignity, tact, and good sense both as to the matter and manner of his utterances. This series of speeches is in marked contrast with his incisive utterances during the campaign of 1888, and disclose General Harrison's ability to seize the vital topic of the moment and present it to a mixed audience in such a way that while consistent with his own record he yet raises no antagonisms.

ROANOKE, VIRGINIA, APRIL 14.

Leaving Washington shortly after midnight, the train passed through Lynchburg at an early hour and arrived at Roanoke, its first stopping-point, at 8:50 A.M. Seemingly the entire population of the enterprising city was out to welcome the President to Old Virginia. Prominent among those who greeted the party were Mr. and Mrs. Charles G. Eddy, W. B. Bevill, John A. Pack, Allen Hull, A. S. Asberry, and John D. Smith.

After shaking hands with several hundred, President Harrison, in response to repeated calls, spoke as follows:

_My Fellow-citizens_--I desire to thank you very sincerely for
this friendly greeting. The State of Virginia is entitled, I think,
to high estimation among the States for its great history--for the
contribution it has made to the great story of our common country.
This fact you discovered, I think, long ago. For personal reasons I
have great affection for Virginia. It is the State of my fathers. I am
glad this morning to congratulate you upon the marvellous development
which has come, and the greater which is coming, to your commonwealth.

You not only have an illustrious story behind you, but before you
prospects of development in wealth and prosperity, in all that makes a
great State, such as never entered into the imagination of those who
laid the foundation of the commonwealth. [Cheers.] You are arousing
now to a realization of the benefits of diversity of industries.

In the olden time Virginia was a plantation State. I hope she may
never cease to have large agricultural interests. It is the foundation
of stable society, but I rejoice with you that she has added to
agriculture the mining of coal and iron, and, bringing these from
their beds, is producing all the products that enter into the uses of
life.

In this is the secret of that great growth illustrating what I see
about me here, and the promise of a future which none of us can fully
realize. In all of these things we have a common interest, and I beg
to assure you that in everything that tends to the social order of
your people and the development and increased prosperity of the State
of Virginia I am in most hearty sympathy with you all. [Cheers.]

BRISTOL, TENNESSEE, APRIL 14.

The town of Radford, Va., acknowledged the honor of the President's visit in a cordial way. General Harrison shook hands with many of the inhabitants. At Bristol, Tenn., a crowd of several thousand greeted the party at the station. The President was met and escorted to a high bluff overlooking the city by Hon. Harvey C. Wood, at the head of the following committee of prominent citizens: Col. E. C. Manning, Hon. I. C. Fowler, Judge M. B. Wood, A. S. McNeil, W. A. Sparger, A. C. Smith, C. H. Slack, Rockingham Paul, Esq., Capt. J. H. Wood, Judge C. J. St. John, Col. Nat M. Taylor, and John H. Caldwell.

Judge Wood made the welcoming address and introduced the President, who, in response, said:

_My Fellow-citizens_--I have found not only pleasure but instruction
in riding to-day through a portion of the State of Virginia that is
feeling in a very striking way the impulse of a new development. It
is extremely gratifying to notice that those hidden sources of wealth
which were so long unobserved and so long unused are now being found,
and that these regions, once so retired, occupied by a pastoral
people, having difficult access to the centres of population, are
now being rapidly transformed into busy manufacturing and commercial
centres.

In the early settlement of this city the emigrants poured over the
Alleghanies and the Blue Ridge like waters over an obstructing ledge,
seeking the fertile and attractive farm regions of the great West.
They passed unobserved these marvellous hidden stores of wealth which
are now being brought into use. Having filled those great basins of
the West, they are now turning back to Virginia and West Virginia and
Tennessee to bring about a development and production for which the
time is ripe, and which will surprise the world. [Cheers.]

It has not been long since every implement of iron, domestic,
agricultural, and mechanical, was made in other States. The iron
point of the wooden mould-board plough with which the early farmers
here turned the soil came from distant States. But now Virginia and
Tennessee are stirring their energies to participate in a large degree
in mechanical productions and in the great awakening of American
influence which will lift the Nation to a place among the nations of
the world never before attained. [Cheers.]

What hinders us, secure in the market of our own great population,
from successful competition in the markets of the world? What hinders
our people, possessing every element of material wealth and endowed
with inventive genius and energy unsurpassed, from having again upon
the seas a merchant marine flying the flag of our country and carrying
its commerce into every sea and every port?

I am glad to stand for this moment among you, glad to express my
sympathy with you in every enterprise that tends to develop your
State and local communities; glad to stand with you upon the one
common platform of respect to the Constitution and the law, differing
in our policies as to what the law should be, but pledged with a
common devotion and obedience to law as the majority shall by their
expressions make it.

I shall carry away from here a new impulse to public duty, a new
inspiration as a citizen with you of a country whose greatness is
only dawning. And may I now express the pleasure I shall have in
every good that comes to you as a community and to each of you as
individuals? May peace, prosperity, and social order dwell in your
communities, and the fear and love of God in every home! [Cheers.]

JOHNSON CITY, TENNESSEE, APRIL 14. 1891

The President was welcomed at Johnson City by 3,000 people. S. K. N. Patton Post, G. A. R, with Maj. A. Cantwell, J. M. Erwin, and W. Hodges, acted as a guard of honor to the Chief Magistrate. The committee to receive and entertain the President comprised: Mayor Ike T. Jobe, Hon. W. G. Mathes, President Board of Trade; Hon. T. F. Singiser, Hon. A. B. Bowman, Hon. B. F. Childress, Thos. E. Matson, Jas. M. Martin, J. C. Campbell, H. C. Chandler, J. W. Cox, C. W. Marsh, L. W. Wood, J. A. Mathes, H. W. Hargraves, J. F. Crumley, M. N. Johnson, and W. W. Kirkpatrick.

Congressman Alfred A. Taylor presented the President, who spoke as follows:

_My Fellow-citizens_--The office of President of the United States
is one of very high honor and is also one of very high responsibility.
No man having conscientiously at heart the good of the whole people,
whose interests are, under the law, in some degree committed to his
care, can fail to feel a most oppressive sense of inadequacy when he
comes to the discharge of these high functions.

Elected under a system of government which gives to the majority
of our people who have expressed their wishes through constitutional
methods the right to choose their public servants, when he has taken
the oath that inducts him into office he becomes the servant of all
the people, and while he may pursue the advocacy of those measures to
which the people have given their approval by his choice, he should
always act and speak with a reserve and a respect for the opinion
of others that shall not alienate from him the good-will of his
fellow-citizens, without regard to political belief.

I shall not speak of what has been done, but I have a supreme regard
for the honor of the Nation, a profound respect for the Constitution,
and a most sincere desire to meet the just expectations of my
fellow-citizens. I am not one of those who believe that the good of
any class can be permanently and largely attained except upon lines
which promote the good of all our people.

I rejoice in the Union of the States. I rejoice to stand here
in East Tennessee among a people who so conspicuously and at such
sacrifice during the hour of the Nation's peril stood by the flag
and adhered to their convictions of public duty [cheers]; and I am
especially glad to be able to say that those who, following other
views of duty, took sides against us in that struggle, without
division in voice or heart to-day praise Almighty God that He
preserved us one Nation. [Cheers.]

There is no man, whatever his views upon the questions that then
divided us, but, in view of the marvellous benefits which are
disseminating themselves over these States, must also bless God to-day
that slavery no longer exists and that the Union of free States is
indissoluble. [Cheers.]

What is it that has stirred the public of this great region, that
has kindled these furnace fires, that has converted these retired and
isolated farms upon which you and your ancestors dwelt into centres
of trade and mechanical pursuits, bringing a market close to the door
of the farmer and bringing prosperity into every home? It is that we
have no line of division between the States; it is that these impulses
of freedom and enterprise, once limited in their operations, are now
common in all the States. We have a common heritage. The Confederate
soldier has a full, honorable, and ungrudged participation in all the
benefits of a great and just Government. [Cheers.]

I do not doubt to-day that these would be among the readiest of our
population to follow the old flag if it should be assailed from any
quarter. [Cheers.]

Now, my fellow-countrymen, I can pause but a moment with you. It
does me good to look into your faces, to receive these evidences of
your good-will. I hope I may have guidance and courage in such time as
remains to me in public life conscientiously to serve the public good
and the common glory of our beloved country. [Great cheering.]

JONESBORO, TENNESSEE, APRIL 14.

At Jonesboro, the oldest city in Tennessee and the ancient capital of the State of Franklin, the President was the recipient of a most cordial welcome. All the residents of the town seemed to be present. Among the prominent citizens who participated in the greeting were: Mayor I. E. Reeves, Judge Newton Hacker, R. M. May, Col. T. H. Reeves, A. J. Patterson, S. H. Anderson, Capt. A. S. Deaderick, James H. Epps, Jacob Leab, S. H. L. Cooper, Judge A. J. Brown, John D. Cox, E. H. West, J. A. Febuary, T. B. Hacker, R. N. Dosser, Capt. Geo. McPherson, and Chancellor J. P. Smith.

General Harrison's allusion to John Sevier and his struggle to establish the State of Franklin elicited hearty applause. He spoke as follows:

_My Fellow-citizens_--We tarry but a moment at this ancient and
interesting city, whose story goes back, I think, to the establishment
of the State of Franklin, of which perhaps not all of you, certainly
not these little ones, ever heard, which John Sevier attempted to set
up as an independent commonwealth.

But yet it is not of antiquity that I desire to speak, for ancient
history is not of the greatest interest to you now. The Scripture
speaks, I think--my Postmaster-General is near, and if I fall into
error will correct me [laughter]--of a time when the old things shall
pass away and all things shall become new. Tennessee is realizing that
beatitude; the old things, the old way of doing things, the stiff clay
and steep mountain roads have passed away and the steam-car has come.

The old times of isolation in these valleys, when these pioneers,
some of whom I see, made their frontier homes, have passed away, and
influences from the outside have come; life has been made easier to
men and easier to the toiling women who used to carry the water from
the spring at the bottom of the hill in a piggin, but who now by
modern appliances have it brought into the kitchen.

You have come to know now that not only the surface of the soil
has wealth in it, but that under the surface there are vast sources
of wealth to gladden the homes of your people and to bring with new
industries a thrifty population. But of all these old things that
have passed away and the new ones that have come, I am sure you are
exultantly glad in this region, where there was so much martyrdom for
the flag, so much exile, so much suffering, that the one Union, the
one Constitution, and the one flag might be preserved, to know that
those old strifes have passed away, and that a period of fraternity
has come when all men are for the flag and all for the Constitution,
when it has been forever put out of the minds of all people that
this Union can be dissolved or this Constitution overthrown. [Great
cheering.]

On all these new things I congratulate the citizens of Tennessee.
Turn your faces to the morning, for the sun is lightening the
hill-tops; there is coming to our country a great growth, an
extraordinary development, and you are to be full participants in it
all. While other nations of the world have reached a climax in their
home development, and are struggling to parcel out remote regions of
the earth that their commerce may be extended, we have here prodigious
resources that are yet to be touched by the finger of development, and
we have the power, if we will, to put our flag again on the sea and to
share in the world's commerce. [Cheers.]

GREENVILLE, TENNESSEE, APRIL 14.

The home of President Andrew Johnson--Greenville, Tenn.--gave the President a cordial greeting through its welcoming committee, consisting of Mayor John M. Brabson, Aldermen A. N. Shown, J. D. Britton, E. C. Miller, and W. H. Williams; also Burnside Post, G. A. R., W. T. Mitchell Commander; A. J. Frazier, and the children of the public schools, in charge of Principal L. McWhisler.

President Harrison said:

_My Fellow-citizens_--The arrangements for our journey will not
permit me to tarry with you long. I thank you most sincerely for this
cordial demonstration. I rejoice to see in the hands of the children
here that banner of glory which is the symbol of our greatness and the
promise of our security.

I am glad that by the common consent of all our people, without any
regard to past differences, we have once and forever struck hands
upon the proposition that from the lakes to the gulf, from the St.
Lawrence to the Bay of California, there shall be one flag and one
Constitution. [Great cheering.] The story that it brings to us from
the time of its adoption as our national emblem is one in which we may
all find instruction and inspiration. It is the flag of the free.

It symbolizes a government most aptly expressed by the greatest
statesman of the people, Abraham Lincoln, to be "a government of the
people, by the people, and for the people"--a government that spreads
a sky of hope above the head of every child, that has abolished
all class distinctions, and has opened all places of eminence and
usefulness in the state and in commerce to the ambitious and energetic
young man.

This city has given to the country a conspicuous illustration in
your distinguished former fellow-citizen, Andrew Johnson, of what free
institutions may do, and what an aspiring young man may do against all
adverse conditions in life. To every one perfect freedom is guaranteed
within the limits of due respect to the rights of others. Thanking you
again for this presence and friendly greeting, I bid you good-by.

MORRISTOWN, TENNESSEE, APRIL 14.

At Morristown several thousand citizens and residents of Hamblen, Cocke, Grainger, and Jefferson counties assembled to greet the President. The Reception Committee was Mayor W. S. Dickson, R. L. Gaut, H. Williams, W. H. Maze, A. S. Jenkins, and James A. Goddard. At the conclusion of the President's speech an old grizzled veteran stepped upon the platform, and reaching out his hand said: "Mr. President, I was in that Atlanta campaign, on the other side, and helped to keep you back, but now the war is over I'm proud to take your hand." The President showed great pleasure at this greeting, and held the old soldier's hand several minutes, the spectators meanwhile cheering lustily. A large number of ex-Confederates witnessed this incident.

President Harrison's speech on the occasion was as follows:

_My Fellow citizens_--It will not be possible for me to speak to you
for more than a moment, and yet I cannot refuse, in justice to my own
feelings, to express my deep appreciation of your cordial reception.
I visit to-day for the first time East Tennessee, but it is a region
in which I have always felt a profound interest and for whose people I
have always entertained a most sincere respect.

It seems to be true in the history of man that those who are called
to dwell among mountain peaks, in regions where the convulsions
of nature have lifted the rocks toward the sky, have always been
characterized by a personal independence of character, by a devotion
to liberty, and by courage in defence of their rights and their homes.
The legends that cluster about the mountain peaks of Scotland and the
patriotic devotion that makes memorable the passes of Switzerland have
been repeated in the mountains of East Tennessee.

In those periods of great struggles, when communications were
difficult and often interrupted, the hearts of the people of Indiana
went out to the beleaguered friends of the Union beyond the Cumberland
Gap. I am glad to know that it is no longer difficult to reach you
for succor or for friendly social intercourse, for travel has been
quickened and made easy. Some one mentioned just now that it was only
four hours and a half from Chattanooga to Atlanta. That is not my
recollection [laughter]; I think we spent as many months making that
trip. [Laughter.]

I am glad to know that now, by the consent of all your people,
without regard to the differences that separated you then, your
highways are open to all of us, without prejudice; that your hearts
are true to the Union and the Constitution, and that the high sense
of public duty which then characterized you still abides among your
people. May your valleys be always full of prosperity, your homes the
abode of affection and love, and of all that makes the American home
the best of all homes and the sure nursery of good citizens. [Cheers.]

KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE, APRIL 14.

On the evening of the first day of the journey Knoxville was reached. The distinguished travellers were welcomed by a citizens' committee, composed of William Rule, Chairman; Col. E. J. Sanford, Hon. J. C. J. Williams, Hon. L. C. Houk, Col. J. Vandeventer, M. L. Ross, John T. Hearn, Alex. Summers, Wm. M. Baxter, F. A. Moses, John W. Conner, B. R. Strong, Hon. Peter Kern, Capt. W. P. Chamberlain, Col. J. B. Minnis, W. H. Simmonds, John L. Hudiburg, Capt. A. J. Albers, Hon. J. W. Caldwell, and W. P. Smith. After visiting Fort Sanders and viewing the battle-field by twilight the party returned to the city, where a vast audience was assembled.

Col. William A. Henderson introduced the President, who spoke as follows:

_My Fellow-citizens_--It gives me pleasure to visit this historical
city--a city that has given to the country many men who have been
eminent in its councils and brought to the Nation they served and to
the people who called them into the public service great honor. I am
glad to visit East Tennessee, the scene of that early immigration and
of those early struggles of men who, for vigor of intellect, strength
of heart, and devotion to republican principles, were among the most
conspicuous of the early pioneers of the West and Southwest.

I am glad to know that that deep devotion to the cause of the
Union which manifested itself in the early contributions of
Tennessee to the armies that went to the defence of the homes of the
Northwest abides still in these valleys and crowns with its glory
and lustre every hill-top of the Alleghanies. You are feeling now a
material development that is interesting and pleasing to all your
fellow-citizens of the States.

I beg to say to you that whoever supposes that there is anywhere
in the Northern States any jealousy of this great material progress
which the South is making wholly misconceives the friendly heart of
the people of the North. It is my wish, as I am sure it is the wish
of all with whom I associate in political life, that the streams of
prosperity in the South may run bank-full; that in everything that
promotes the prosperity of the State, the security and comfort of the
community, and the happiness of the individual home, your blessings
may be full and unstinted.

We live in a Government of law. The compact of our organization
is that a majority of our people, taking those methods which are
prescribed by the Constitution and law, shall determine our public
policies and choose our rulers. It is our solemn compact; it cannot
safely be broken. We may safely differ about policies; we may safely
divide upon the question as to what shall be the law; but when the
law is once enacted no community can safely divide on the question of
implicit obedience to the law.