Chapter XVI: Part 16

It has a proud record from the time of our great struggle for
independence down to the last sad conflict between our own citizens.
We bless God to-day that these brave men who, working out His purpose
on the field of battle, made it again the symbol of a united people.
[Cheers.] Our institutions, of which this flag is an emblem, are free
institutions. These men and women into whose faces I look are free
men and women. I do not honor you by my presence here to-day. I hold
my trust from you and you honor me in this reception. [Great cheers.]
This magnificent domain on the Pacific coast, seized for the Union
by the energy and courage and wise forethought of Frémont and his
associates, is essential to our perfection. Nothing more important in
territorial extension, unless it be the purchase of the territory of
Louisiana and the control of the Mississippi River, has ever occurred
in our national history. [Great cheering.] We touch two oceans, and
on both we have built commonwealths and great cities, thus securing
in that territory individuality and association which give us an
assurance of perpetual peace. [Cheers.] No great conflict of arms
can ever take place on American soil if we are true to ourselves and
have forever determined that no civil conflict shall again rend our
country. [Cheers.]

We are a peace-loving Nation, and yet we cannot be sure that
everybody else will be peaceful, and therefore I am glad that by
the general consent of our people and by the liberal appropriations
from Congress we are putting on the sea some of the best vessels of
their class afloat [cheers], and that we are now prepared to put
upon their decks as good guns as are made in the world; and when we
have completed our programme, ship by ship, we will put in their
forecastles as brave Jack Tars as serve under any flag. [Great
cheering.] The provident care of our Government should be given to
your sea-coast defences until all these great ports of the Atlantic
and Pacific are made safe. [Cheers.]

But, my countrymen, this audience overmatches a voice that has been
in exercise from Roanoke, Va., to Los Angeles. I beg you, therefore,
again to receive my most hearty thanks and excuse me from further
speech. [Great and prolonged cheering.]

In the evening the President was escorted to the pavilion, with a view to receiving personally the citizens, but when he viewed the great assemblage he desisted from the herculean task of taking each one by the hand, and instead thereof made the following address:

_Ladies and Gentlemen_--I thank you for the warm greeting that you
have given me and the royal welcome you have extended to my party and
myself to your lovely city. I am thoroughly aware of the non-partisan
character of this gathering, and appreciate the good-will with which
you have gathered here in this vast building to receive me. I had a
touching evidence of the non-partisan character of this gathering--and
the good-will as well--just now when a man said to me: "I want to
shake hands with you, even if I did lose a thousand dollars on your
election." There will be no trouble to keep the flame of patriotism
and love of country glowing so long as the American people thus
manifest their loyalty to the officers whom the will of the people
has placed in power. I thank you again for your good-will and hearty
welcome. [Great cheering.]

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 23.

The presidential party reached San Diego Wednesday evening and was escorted at once to Coronado Beach Hotel. The Indiana residents of the city called upon the President shortly after his arrival, and Mr. Wright delivered an address in their behalf.

The President, in response, said:

_My Friends_--I regret that I can only say thank you. Our time is
now due to the citizens of San Diego, and I have promised not to
detain that committee. It is particularly pleasurable to me to see,
as I have done at almost every station where our train stopped, some
Indianian, who stretched up the hand of old neighborship to greet
me as I passed along. It is this intermingling of our people which
sustains the merit of the home. The Yankee intermingles with the
Illinoisian, the Hoosier with the Sucker, and the people of the South
with them all; and it is this commingling which gives that unity which
marks the American Nation. I am glad to know that there are so many of
you here, and as I said to some Hoosiers as I came along, I hope you
have secured your share of these blessings.

The formal reception of the President took place Thursday morning, when he was welcomed by Mayor Douglas Gunn, at the head of the following Committee of Reception: Hon. John D. Works, Hon. Eli H. Murray, Hon. W. W. Bowers, Howard M. Kutchin, Hon. Olin Wellborn, E. S. Babcock, Col. W. G. Dickinson, Col. Chalmers Scott, Hon. G. W. Hardacre, W. J. Hunsaker, Hon. George Puterbaugh, E. S. Torrance, W. L. Pierce, Watson Parrish, M. A. Luce, N. H. Conklin, Maj. Levi Chase, Col. E. J. Ensign, James P. Goodwin, M. L. Ward, Col. A. G. Gassen, James McCoy, Dr. R. M. Powers, W. N. King, A. E. Horton, L. S. McLure, T. S. Van Dyke, Col. John Kastle, Carl Schutze, Geo. D. Copeland, M. Sherman, H. L. Story, D. C. Reed, S. W. Switzer, Col. G. G. Bradt, Thos. Gardner, E. N. Buck, Dr. D. Gochenauer, Henry Timken, Col. W. L. Vestal, C. W. Pauly, Col. G. M. Brayton, U. S. A.; Capt. Leonard Hay, Capt. W. R. Maize, Lieut. E. B. Robertson, John R. Berry, H. T. Christian, D. H. Hewitt, Col. A. G. Watson, Daniel Stone, W. E. Howard, J. S. Buck, R. C. Allen, A. V. Lomeli, Mexican Consul; J. B. Neilson, Danish Consul; J. W. Girvin, Hawaiian Consul; M. Blochman, French Vice-Consul; Bryant Howard, Jacob Gruendike, J. W. Collins, John Long, Frank A. Kimball, S. Levi, Gen. T. T. Crittenden, J. F. Sinks, Dr. P. C. Remondino, O. J. Stough, J. S. Mannasse, Frank M. Simpson, J. E. Fishburne, Warren Wilson, T. A. Nerney, H. C. Treat, F. S. Jennings, T. M. Loup, Dr. J. G. Beck, Capt. C. T. Hinde, G. S. Havermale, H. A. Howard, Philip Morse, George W. Marston, Fred N. Hamilton, E. W. Morse, J. S. Gordon, E. J. Louis, R. M. Dooley, E. W. Bushyhead, O. S. Witherby, W. J. Prout, William Collier, J. H. Gay, G. H. Ballou, F. S. Plympton, J. P. Winship, Tomas Alvarado, Col. E. B. Spileman, Ariosto McCrimmon, Paul H. Blades, and Walter G. Smith.

Heintzelman Post, G. A. R., Gen. Datus E. Coon, Commander, participated in the reception, which was held on the Plaza. Mayor Gunn delivered the address of welcome.

The President, responding, said:

_Mr. Mayor and Fellow-citizens_--I am in slavery to a railroad
schedule, and have but a few moments longer to tarry in your beautiful
city. If there were no other reward for our journey across the
continent, we have seen to-day about your magnificent harbor that
which would have repaid us for all the toil of travel. [Applause.]

I do not come to tell you anything about California, for I have
perceived in my intercourse with Californians in the East and during
this brief stay among you that already you know all about California.
[Laughter.]

You are, indeed, most happily situated. Every element that makes
life comfortable is here; every possibility that makes life successful
and prosperous is here; and I am sure, as I look into those kindly,
upturned faces, that your homes have as healthful a moral atmosphere
as the natural one that God has spread over your smiling land.

It is with regret that we now part from you. The welcome you
have extended to us is magnificent, kindly, and tasteful. We shall
carry away the most pleasant impression, and shall wish for you all
that you anticipate in your largest dreams for your beautiful city
[cheers]--that your harbor may be full of foreign and coast-wise
traffic, that it may not be long until the passage of our naval and
merchant marine shall not be by the Horn, but by Nicaragua. [Cheers.]
I believe that great enterprise, which is to bring your commerce into
nearer and cheaper contact with the Atlantic seaboard cities, both of
this continent and of South America, will not be long delayed.

And now, again with most grateful thanks for your friendly
attention, in my own behalf and in behalf of all who journey with me I
bid you a most kindly farewell. [Prolonged cheers.]

At the conclusion of the President's address Governor Torres, of Lower California, in the uniform of a Major-General of the Mexican army, approached the President and read the following telegram from Gen. Porfirio Diaz, President of Mexico:

It has come to my knowledge that the President of the United States,
Hon. Benjamin Harrison, shall visit San Diego on the 23d instant, and
I let you know it so that you may call to congratulate him in my name
and present him with my compliments.

[Signed] PORFIRIO DIAZ.

Responding to this friendly international salute, President Harrison said:

_Governor Torres_--This message from that progressive and
intelligent gentleman who presides over the destinies of our sister
republic is most grateful to me. I assure you that all our people,
that the Government, through all its instituted authorities,
entertain for President Diaz and for the chivalrous people over which
he presides the most friendly sentiments of respect. [Cheers and
applause.] We covet, sir, your good-will and those mutual exchanges
which are mutually profitable, and we hope that the two republics may
forever dwell in fraternal peace.

As the President sat down Governor Torres remarked: "The Mexican people respond heartily to your kind wishes."

SANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 23.

On the return route from San Diego the presidential train stopped at Santa Ana, a thriving town in Orange County, where 5,000 people had assembled to greet the Chief Magistrate. The Committee of Reception was John T. Nourse, C. S. McKelvey, W. S. Taylor, J. A. Crane, John Beatty, Geo. E. Edgar, Geo. T. Insley, Capt. H. T. Matthews, W. H. Drips, and Robert Cummings. Sedgwick Post, G. A. R., H. F. Stone, Commander, was present. Prof. M. Manley delivered the address of welcome, and the Hon. W. H. Spurgeon, founder of the city, introduced the President, who spoke as follows:

_My Fellow-citizens_--I have already proved your hospitality. It is
very, very generous, and it is very graceful. I have but one doubt in
regard to it, and that is whether I can stand so much of it. [Laughter
and applause.] It has given me great gladness of heart to look into
your faces. I have been discharging some public business far remote
from you, and I hope with some concern for your interest, for I have
tried to take a wide view of public questions and to have in my mind a
thought of the people of this great land.

Our politics should be as broad as the territory over which our
people have spread. It is a part of the history of the country which
has always kept in memory the safety and interests of those who pushed
civilization to the Rocky Mountains and over its rugged peaks into
these fruitful valleys. I am glad to see here this afternoon these
little children. The order in which they have assembled gives me
assurance that they have come from the school-houses, those nurseries
of knowledge and common interests in our American States.

I am glad that you grow not only the olive-tree in your garden, but
that to the olive-trees that are planted in the household and bloom
about your table you give your greatest attention. Now, thanking you
very kindly and confessing very humbly that I am not able to repay you
for your generous welcome, and leaving to all these little ones my
best hopes for useful, prosperous, and honorable lives, I bid you all
good-by.

ORANGE, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 23.

Through the zealous efforts of Mrs. T. I. Halsted, President of the Woman's Relief Corps of Orange, Mrs. Emilie N. Tener, and others, the presidential train stopped at that town. The Committee of Reception was: Rev. A. Parker, Robert E. Tener, E. E. Risley, Wm. H. Arne, Mrs. E. B. Strong, H. W. Wilson, and D. C. Pixley. Gordon Granger Post, G. A. R., A. Meacham, Commander, was present in full force.

Responding to enthusiastic cheers the President said:

_My Friends_--I am glad to look into your smiling faces, and I
thank you for this welcome. California is a State that is favorably
situated, and, so far as I can judge, this section is among the most
favored in the State. There is no time for a speech, but we can shake
hands with a few of those who are nearest.

RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 23.

One of the most enjoyable visits of the President and his party was to Riverside, San Bernardino County, where, on driving from Arlington station, they were welcomed by several thousand residents of the district. The Committee of Reception comprised Hon. H. M. Streeter, Judge W. W. Noland, Judge Harvey Potter, C. O. Perrine, Capt. C. H. Vosburg, C. M. Loring, A. P. Johnson, F. M. Dunbar, A. Keith, C. T. Rice, Capt. J. T. Lawler, A. H. Naftzger, E. W. Holmes, F. McChoppin, Frank A. Miller, G. W. Dickson, J. A. Wilbur, F. M. Heath, C. N. Andrews, J. R. Newberry, F. E. Abbott, W. C. Fitzsimmons, D. W. McLeod, B. R. Williams, C. P. Hayt, and Mrs. S. A. Ames, representing the city of Riverside; Mrs. C. W. Sylvester, representing the Woman's Relief Corps; Mrs. C. Button, representing the W. C. T. U., and Mrs. Davis.

The President and Mrs. Harrison and all the other members of the party were treated to a delightful drive through the celebrated orange groves. The President was accompanied by Hon. S. C. Evans. Returning from the groves the President's carriage was halted in front of the High School building, where 1,400 scholars and several thousand others had assembled.

On being presented by Mr. Evans the President said:

_My Friends_--We can tarry only for a moment, as we are already
behind the regular time for leaving. I cannot, however, drive by this
large assemblage of friends, gathered to greet us on the way, without
expressing the delight with which I have looked upon these beautiful
surroundings. My trip from Washington has been full of pleasures and
surprises, but nothing has given me greater surprise and more pleasure
than the drive of this afternoon through this magnificent valley of
Riverside. I am glad you are interested in cultivating the children as
well as the orange, and I trust that their young minds may be kept as
free from all that is injurious as these fine orange orchards are of
weeds and everything that is noxious. May their lives be as fruitful
as your trees, and their homes as happy and full of joy as this land
seems to be of the bright sunshine of God.

The distinguished visitors then proceeded through the city and reviewed the parade, at the conclusion of which the President, speaking without introduction, said:

_My Friends_--I am sorry that we can tarry with you only for a
moment. We are now twenty minutes behind our schedule time for
leaving. If we should stay with you longer we should disappoint others
who are waiting for us at an appointed time.

We are grateful to you for your presence. I have enjoyed very much
the ride through the valley. You are a favored people, and ought to
be, as I have no doubt you are, a law-abiding, liberty-loving, and
patriotic people.

SAN BERNARDINO, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 23.

Another typical gathering, full of California enthusiasm, greeted the party at San Bernardino. The Reception Committee comprised C. C. Haskell, Chairman; J. C. Lynch, Hon. Samuel Merrill, W. A. Harris, Joseph Brown, J. N. Victor, L. C. Waite, Richard Gird, W. E. W. Lightfoot, W. B. Beamer, R. J. Waters, Truman Reeves, Dr. A. Thompson, Col. T. J. Wilson, D. A. Scott, A. S. Hawley, J. J. Hewitt, E. B. Stanton, A. G. Kendall, Dr. J. P. Booth, W. H. Timmons, Wilson Hays, Geo. Cooley, R. B. Taylor, H. A. Keller, E. E. Katz, Lewis Jacobs, H. L. Drew, N. G. Gill, and I. W. Lord. Mr. W. J. Curtis delivered the address of welcome. In response the President said:

_Mr. Mayor and Fellow citizens_--I can only repeat to you what I
have already had occasion to say to many similar audiences assembled
in California, that I am delighted with my visit to the Pacific coast;
that much as I had heard of the richness and high cultivation,
what I have seen to-day in this great valley has far surpassed my
expectations. You have subdued an unpromising soil and made it blossom
as the rose; but better than all the fruits and harvests, and better
than all the products of the field, is this intelligent population
which out of their kindly faces extend to us a greeting wherever we go.

I am glad, coming from the far East, to observe how greatly our
people are alike. But that is not surprising, because I find all
through this valley many Hoosiers and Buckeyes I knew at home. It is
not singular that you should be alike when you are really and truly
the same people, not only in lineage and general characteristics, but
the same men and women we have known in the older States. And now I
thank you again, and beg you will excuse me from further speech, with
the assurance that if it were in my power I would double the rich
blessings which you already enjoy. [Cheers.]

PASADENA, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 23.

It was 8 o'clock in the evening when the presidential train rolled into Pasadena, the home of Governor Markham. The President's reception was notable for its marked enthusiasm. The committee of escort that met the party at Riverside was: Hon. J. A. Buchanan, Mayor T. P. Lukens, ex-Gov. L. A. Sheldon, Col. G. G. Green, Geo. F. Foster, and P. M. Green. A great assemblage greeted the President's arrival, which was celebrated by booming cannon, ringing bells, and bonfires. The Committee of Reception, comprising the following leading citizens, welcomed the President and escorted him to the hotel: Gov. H. H. Markham, Chairman; J. H. Holmes, W. U. Masters, C. M. Simpson, Geo. F. Kernaghan, Col. J. R. Bowler, Delos Arnold, M. M. Parker, W. H. Wiley, W. E. Arthur, J. W. Wood, Dr. W. L. McAllister, C. D. Daggett, Judge H. W. Magee, James Clarke, A. B. Manahan, J. W. Scoville, J. E. Farnum, M. D. Painter, T. Banbury, W. W. Webster, Prof. T. S. C. Lowe, Rev. E. L. Conger, Rev. D. D. Hill, Rev. J. W. Phelps, Hon. A. G. Throop, F. J. Woodbury, G. B. Ocheltree, G. A. Greely, W. L. Wotkyns, C. S. Martin, A. R. Metcalfe, F. C. Bolt, E. R. Hull, Dr. Mohr, John McDonald, Judge A. McCoy, B. M. Wotkyns, A. K. McQuilling, S. Washburn, T. J. Rigg, T. Earley, C. S. Cristy, A. C. Armstrong, A. McNally, J. Brockway, J. E. Howard, J. S. Hodge, C. W. Buchanan, O. S. Picher, Dr. Thomas R. Hayes, M. Fish, J. R. Greer, Jr., A. K. Nash, C. H. Richardson, J. G. Rossiter, W. T. Vore, Rev. C. E. Harris, H. H. Rose, J. Banbury, A. Dodworth, Dr. Frary, Judge M. C. Hester, James H. Campbell, C. C. Brown, A. H. Conger, W. S. Wright, George Bremner, James McLachlan, J. S. Cox, C. T. Hopkins, O. E. Weed, J. H. Baker, L. Blankenhorn, W. S. Monroe, George F. Granger, W. S. Gilmore, Rev. L. P. Crawford, W. E. Channing, A. J. Painter, S. H. Doolittle, Dr. George Rodgers, E. E. Jones, W. D. McGilvray, Webster Wotkyns, Theodore Coleman, R. M. Furlong, J. W. Vandevoort, B. E. Ball, E. T. Howe, H. R. Hertel, Charles Foster, G. R. Thomas, A. F. Mills, Dr. W. B. Rowland, Dr. F. F. Rowland, Dr. Van Slyck, Rev. J. B. Stewart, D. R. McLean, C. M. Phillips, C. E. Tebbetts, William Heiss, H. W. Hines, H. E. Pratt, S. R. Lippincott, J. W. Hugus, W. P. Forsyth, O. Freeman, S. E. Locke, C. F. Holder, Capt. A. C. Drake, Prof. J. D. Yocum, J. H. Woodworth, General McBride, W. T. Clapp, E. H. Royce, Charles Legge, Calvin Hartwell, J. O. Lowe, T. C. Foster, T. L. Hoag, Dr. Ezra F. Carr, E. H. May, Dr. Mansfield, G. D. Patton, Prof. S. C. Clark, H. H. Visscher, F. R. Harris, Capt. A. L. Hamilton, J. S. Mills, H. B. Sherman, R. C. Slaughter, James Smith, S. C. Arnold, I. N. Sears, Chas. A. Smith, Wm. Menner, S. H. Yocum, D. W. Permar, John Permar, I. N. Wood, Emil Kayser, N. W. Bell, Rev. E. E. Scannell, Rev. H. T. Staats, W. R. Staats, F. L. Bushnell, H. C. Allen, Rev. A. W. Bunker, Rev. James Kelso, Judge J. P. Nelson, C. J. Morrison, M. Rosenbaum, E. S. Frost, F. B. Wetherby, W. J. McCaldin, A. J. Brown, Dr. Philbrook, Captain Rogers, Dr. S. P. Swearingen, Fred McNally, J. E. Doty, F. D. Stevens, O. Stewart Taylor, A. F. M. Strong, C. M. Parker, C. E. Langford, G. E. Meharry, Maj. C. M. Skillen, Judge B. F. Hoffman, Henry Washburn, Capt. A. Wakeley, W. S. Nosworthy, J. G. Shoup, Mrs. I. B. Winslow, Geo. W. Sheaff, Mrs. T. H. Kuhns, P. G. Wooster, A. McLean, F. L. Jones, Dr. A. H. Palmer, J. J. Allen, E. C. Webster, Arturo Bandini, Will Forbes, W. W. Mills, Mrs. Dr. Elliott, L. C. Winston, S. S. Vaught, I. N. Stevenson, John Habbick, Thomas Croft, Wm. J. Craig, M. A. De Forest, R. K. Janes, C. W. Mann, John Sedwick, Homer Morris, Perry Bonham, Prof. Kyle, R. W. Lacey, Dr. J. C. Michener, A. A. Choteau, A. O. Bristol, Dr. J. M. Radebaugh, J. F. Mullen, T. M. Livingston, G. W. Stimson, W. E. Cooley, W. S. Arnold, W. H. Housh, E. W. Longley, C. W. Hodson, J. D. Graham, M. E. Wood, F. S. Wallace, Prof. W. P. Hammond, C. S. Howard, Joseph Wallace, Robert Vandevoort, H. K. W. Bent, John Allen, George Goings, Jeans James Coleman, Aug. Mayer, Geo. Taylor, J. D. Requa, Rev. A. M. Merwin, W. B. Mosher, P. F. McGowan, G. A. Gibbs, F. K. Burnham, and C. E. Brooks.

The women's Reception Committee to receive Mrs. Harrison and the other ladies in the party consisted of: Mrs. L. A. Sheldon, Mrs. J. A. Buchanan, Mrs. J. W. Wood, Mrs. C. D. Daggett, Mrs. J. R. Bowler, Mrs. James Clarke, Miss Greenleaf, Mrs. W. E. Arthur, and Mrs. W. U. Masters.

It was 11 o'clock at night when the President and the gentlemen of his party attended an elegant banquet at the Hotel Green, over which the Hon. W. U. Masters presided. Mr. Buchanan proposed the President's health in words of welcome.

President Harrison, responding, said:

_Gentlemen_--I beg you to accept my thanks for this banquet spread
in honor of this community of strangers who have dropped in upon you
to-night. We come to you after dark. I am not, therefore, prepared to
speak of Pasadena. When the sun shall have lightened your landscape
again and our expectant eyes shall have rested upon its glories,
I shall be able to give you my impressions of your city, which I
am already prepared to believe is one of the gems in the crown of
California. [Applause.]

Perhaps no other place in California has by name been more familiar
to me than Pasadena, if you except your great commercial city of San
Francisco. That comes from the fact that many of your early settlers
were Indiana friends. I am glad to meet some of these friends here
to-night. It is pleasant to renew these old acquaintances, to find
that they have been received with esteem in this new community. I
have found a line of Hoosiers all along these railroads we have been
traversing.

Everywhere our train has stopped some Hoosier has lifted his hand to
me, and often by dozens. As I said the other day, Ohio men identify
themselves to me by reason of that State being my birthplace, but it
is not a surprise to me to find an Ohio man anywhere. [Laughter.] Ohio
people are especially apt to be found in the vicinity of a public
office. [Laughter.] I suppose whatever good fortune has come to me in
the way of political preferment must be traced to the fact that I am
a Buckeye by birth. [Laughter.] And now I thank you most cordially
again for your attention and kindness. California has been full of the
most affectionate interest to us. I have never looked into the faces
of a more happy and intelligent people than those I have seen on the
Pacific coast. [Applause.]

You occupy the most important position in the sisterhood of States,
stretching for these several hundred miles along the Pacific shore.
You have fortunate birth, and your history has been a succession of
fortunate surprises. You have wrought out here great achievements in
converting these plains that seemed to be so unpromising to the eye
into such gardens as cannot be seen anywhere else upon the continent.
[Applause.]

And now, when I remind you that bedtime was 1 o'clock last night and
the reveille sounded at 6 o'clock this morning on our car, I am sure
you will permit me to say good-night. [Applause.]

SAN FERNANDO, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 24.

The first stop on Friday was at San Fernando, the home of Dr. J. K. Hawks, who for twenty years was General Harrison's near neighbor. The Committee of Reception was: R. P. Waite, S. Maclay, J. Burr, J. S. Kerns, C. Smith, Colonel Hubbard, Mesdames Bodkin, Hubbard, Smith, and Misses Platt, Gower, and Jennie Hawks.

Dr. Hawks made a brief address of welcome and introduced the President, who said:

_Ladies and Gentlemen_--I am pleased to be introduced to you by my
old and honored friend, and I do sincerely hope that he has won your
respect to the same extent which I learned to respect him when he was
my neighbor. I hope you will excuse me from speaking further. I thank
you all for your friendly greeting.

SANTA PAULA, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 24.

The thriving town of Santa Paula, Ventura County, gave the President and his party a hearty reception, distinguished above others by a truly mammoth floral piece 24 feet long by 6 feet in width, covered with calla-lilies, and bearing the word "Welcome" in red geranium letters 40 inches in height. The Committee of Reception was: W. L. Hardison, Chairman; Casper Taylor, Rev. F. D. Mather, C. J. McDevitt, F. A. Morgan, F. E. Davis, J. B. Titus, C. H. McKevett, N. W. Blanchard, Dr. D. W. Mott, C. N. Baker, A. Wooleven, Harry Youngken, and S. C. Graham. The Major Eddy Post, G. A. R., Henry Proctor, Commander, was present.

Maj. Joseph R. Haugh, an old Indianapolis acquaintance, welcomed the President on behalf of the committee. President Harrison, replying, said:

_My Friends_--I cannot feel myself a stranger in this State, so
distant from home, when I am greeted by some familiar faces from my
Indiana home at almost every station. Your fellow-citizen who has
spoken in your behalf was an old-time Indianapolis friend. I hope he
is held in the same esteem in which he was held by the people among
whom he spent his early years as a boy and man. [Cries of "He is!"]
That you should have gone to the pains to make such magnificent
decorations and to come out in such large numbers for this momentary
greeting very deeply touches my heart.

I have never seen in any State of the Union what seems to me to
be a more happy and contented people than I have seen this morning.
Your soil and sun are genial, healthful, and productive, and I have
no doubt that these genial and kindly influences are manifested in
the homes that are represented here, and that there is sunshine in
the household as well as in the fields; that there is contentment
and love and sweetness in these homes as well as in these gardens
that are so adorned with flowers. Our pathway has been strewn with
flowers; we have literally driven for miles over flowers that in
the East would have been priceless, and these favors have all been
accompanied with manifestations of friendliness for which I am very
grateful, and everywhere there has been set up as having greater
glory than sunshine, greater glory than flowers, this flag of our
country. [Applause.] Everywhere I have been greeted by some of these
comrades, veterans of the late war, whose presence among you should
be the inspiration to increased patriotism and loyalty. I bid them
affectionate greeting, and am sorry that I cannot tarry with them
longer. [Cheers.]

SAN BUENAVENTURA, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 24.

Three thousand people welcomed the party at San Buenaventura, including nearly 1,000 school-children, who bounteously provided the President and Mrs. Harrison with flowers. The Reception Committee consisted of: Mayor J. S. Collins, J. R. Willoughby, E. M. Jones, P. Bennett, C. D. Bonestel, N. H. Shaw, and Cushing Post, G. A. R., D. M. Rodibaugh, Commander.

Gen. William Vandever welcomed the party, and the President spoke as follows:

_My Friends_--I am very glad to meet my old friend and your former
representative, General Vandever. I have had some surprise at almost
every station at which we have stopped. I did not know until he came
upon the platform that this was his home. I have not time to make a
speech, and I have not the voice to make one. I can only say of these
hearty and friendly Californians that my heart is deeply touched with
this evidence of friendly regard. You have strewn my way with flowers;
you have graced every occasion, even the briefest stop, with a most
friendly greeting, and I assure you that we are most grateful for it
all. You are fortunate in your location among the States; and I am
sure that in all this great republic nowhere is there a more loyal and
patriotic people than we have here on the Pacific coast. I thank you
again for this greeting. [Cheers.]

SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 24.

The reception at Santa Barbara was the most unique that the presidential party experienced on their trip, and also one of the most enjoyable; it was a veritable flower carnival.

Leading the procession was a Spanish cavalcade commanded by Carlos de la Guerra. The President's escort was a cavalcade of children marshalled by Mrs. Schermerhorn, with flower-decked saddles and bridles; then followed over 100 flower-trimmed equipages, each displaying a different design and flower and bespeaking the marvellous flora of Santa Barbara in the month of April. The stand from whence the President reviewed the procession and witnessed the Battle of Flowers was a floral triumph; 20,000 calla-lilies were used in its decoration and as many bright-colored flowers. The battle scene occurred on the grand stand, immediately opposite the reviewing stand, between several hundred ladies and gentlemen. The whole was a spectacle to be witnessed but once in a lifetime. The parade was under the direction of Grand Marshal D. W. Thompson, assisted by special aids George Culbertson, Dr. H. L. Stambach, T. R. Moore, Samuel Stanwood, Paschal Hocker, and C. A. Fernald. The Committee of Reception comprised Mayor P. J. Barber, C. F. Eaton, W. W. Burton, W. C. Clerk, I. G. Waterman, D. Baxter, E. P. Roe, Jr., C. E. Bigelow, Alston Hayne, Frank Stoddard, L. P. Lincoln, W. N. Hawley, J. W. Calkins, Geo. A. Edwards, C. C. Hunt, Edward M. Hoit, Hon. E. H. Heacock, Dr. J. M. McNulta, W. B. Cope, C. F. Swan, W. M. Eddy, J. C. Wilson, R. B. Canfield; also, Joseph Sexton, of Goleta; E. J. Knapp, of Carpinteria; T. R. Bard, of Hueneme; R. E. Jack and E. W. Steele, of San Luis Obispo; H. H. Poland, of Lompoc, and Dr. W. T. Lucas and Thomas Boyd, of Santa Maria. Starr King Post, G. A. R., C. A. Storke, Commander, participated in the reception.

After witnessing the parade the entire party, including the ladies, visited the ancient Mission of Santa Barbara and were taken within its sacred precincts, it being the second occasion on which any woman was admitted. At night they witnessed a Spanish dance, conducted by many ladies and gentlemen, under the direction of F. M. Whitney, Mrs. Bell, and Mrs. Dibblee. The eventful day closed with a public reception, participated in by 15,000 people.

Gen. Wm. Vandever delivered an address of welcome, to which the President, responding, said:

_General Vandever, Gentlemen of the Committee and Friends_--If I
have been in any doubt as to the fact of the perfect identity of
your people with the American Nation, that doubt has been displaced
by one incident which has been prominent in all this trip, and that
is that the great and predominant and all-pervading American habit
of demanding a speech on every occasion has been characteristically
prominent in California. [Laughter.] I am more than delighted by this
visit to your city. It has been made brilliant with the display of
banners and flowers--one the emblem of our national greatness and
prowess, the other the adornment which God has given to beautify
nature. With all this I am sure I have read in the faces of the men,
women and children who have greeted me that these things--these
flowers of the field and this flag, representing organized
government--typify what is to be found in the homes of California.
The expression of your welcome to-day has been unique and tasteful
beyond description. I have not the words to express the high sense
of appreciation and the amazement that filled the minds of all our
party as we looked upon this display which you have improvised for our
reception. No element of beauty, no element of taste, no element of
gracious kindness has been lacking in it, and for that we tender you
all our most hearty thanks. We shall keep this visit a bright spot in
our memories. [Applause.]

BAKERSFIELD, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 25.

The first stop of the presidential train on Friday, April 25, was at Bakersfield, the gateway of the famous San Joaquin Valley, which was reached at 8:30 in the morning. Fifteen hundred residents greeted the President, who was met by W. E. Houghton, W. H. Scribner, W. Canfield, and C. E. Sherman, constituting a special Committee of Reception. The general committee for the occasion comprised the following prominent citizens: N. R. Packard, E. M. Roberts, John J. Morrison, Emil Dinkelspiel, H. L. Borgwardt, Jr., J. Neideraur, P. Galtes, O. D. Fish, H. A. Jastro, Geo. K. Ober, Dr. Helm, J. J. Mack, E. A. Pueschel, S. N. Reed, H. A. Blodget, C. A. Maul, Chas. E. Jewett, A. Harrell, G. W. Wear, Wm. Montgomery, John Barker, H. P. Olds, E. Willow, B. Brundage, B. A. Hayden, F. H. Colton, W. H. Cook, B. Ardizzi, C. C. Cowgill, L. S. Rogers, John O. Miller, Geo. G. Carr, N. R. Wilkinson, A. Weill, H. C. Lechner, S. W. Wible, Dr. John Snook, L. McKelvy, A. Morgan, E. C. Palmes, John S. Drury, W. A. Howell, A. C. Maude, Chas. Vandever, Alonzo Coons, T. A. Metcalf, R. M. Walker, Richard Hudnut, Sol. Jewett, J. C. Smith, S. A. Burnap, H. H. Fish, S. W. Fergusson, J. W. Mahon, A. Fay, Chas. Bickirdike, H. F. Condict, H. C. Park, and I. L. Miller.

A large number of beautiful bouquets were showered upon the party here. Judge A. R. Conklin made the welcoming address. President Harrison spoke as follows:

_My Friends_--I am very much obliged to you for your friendly
greeting and for these bouquets. You must excuse me if I seem a little
shy of the bouquets. I received one in my eye the other day which gave
me a good deal of trouble. You are very kind to meet us here so early
in the morning with this cordial demonstration. It has been a very
long journey, and has been accompanied with some fatigue of travel,
but we feel this morning, in this exhilarating air and this sweet
sunshine, and refreshed with your kind greeting, as bright and more
happy than when we left the national capital.

I am glad to feel that here, on the western edge of the continent,
in this Pacific State, there is that same enthusiastic love for the
flag, that same veneration and respect for American institutions, for
the one Union and the one Constitution, that is found in the heart
of the country. We are one people absolutely. We follow not men, but
institutions. We are happy in the fact that though men may live or
die, come or go, we still have that toward which the American citizen
turns with confidence and veneration--this great Union of the States
devised so happily by our fathers. General Garfield, when Mr. Lincoln
was stricken down by the foul hand of an assassin, and when that great
wave of dismay and grief swept over the land, standing in a busy
thoroughfare of New York, could say: "The Government at Washington
still lives." It is dependent upon no man. It is lodged safely in the
affections of the people, and having its impregnable defence and its
assured perpetuity in their love and veneration for law. [Cheers.]

TULARE, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 25.

Tulare was reached at 10 o'clock. Nearly 6,000 people awaited the President's arrival. Capt. Thomas H. Thompson, E. W. Holland, and Hon. O. B. Taylor met the distinguished travellers. The other members of the committee were: Hon. John. G. Eckles, Hon. J. O. Lovejoy, I. N. Wright, J. Wolfrom, E. T. Cosper, Hon. J. W. Davis, Sam Richardson, Dr. C. F. Taggart, M. W. Cooley, H. H. Francisco, C. C. Brock, James Scoon, D. O. Hamman, J. L. Bachelder, R. B. Bohannan, James Morton, A. O. Erwin, J. B. Zumwalt, Hon. E. De Witt, Alfred Fay, J. H. Whited, J. A. Goble, W. L. Blythe, M. M. Burnett, Scott Bowles, R. L. Reid, F. M. Shultz, B. F. Moore, F. Rosenthal, Henry Peard, Sam Blythe, J. A. Allen, E. Lathrop, E. J. Cox, J. F. Boller, Hon. G. S. Berry, R. Linder, Miles Ellsworth, R. N. Hough, C. F. Hall, Dr. E. W. Dutcher, M. Premo, Hon. John Roth, A. Borders, T. W. Maples, E. D. Lake, S. S. Ingham, D. W. Madden, Sam Newell, M. C. Hamlin, W. C. Ambrose, H. C. Faber, C. Talbot, L. E. Schoenemann, M. C. Hunt, G. W. Zartman, A. P. Hall, J. H. Woody, Isaac Roberts, Capt. E. Oakford, J. C. Gist, H. F. Tandy, C. F. Stone, and Dr. B. M. Alford.

The committee escorted the presidential party to a unique platform constructed inside the stump of a gigantic redwood tree, and there was ample seating capacity upon the platform for the entire party; about the base of the great stump were arranged boxes of elegant flowers. Mrs. Harrison and the other ladies in the party were escorted to the stand by Mrs. E. B. Oakford, Mrs. T. H. Thompson, Mrs. G. J. Reading, and Mrs. Patrick, of Visalia. Gettysburg Post, G. A. R., and Company E, from Visalia, were a guard of honor to the Chief Magistrate.

Governor Markham introduced the President, who spoke as follows:

_My Friends_--This seems to be a very happy and smiling audience,
and I am sure that the gladness which is in your hearts and in
your faces does not depend at all upon the presence of this little
company of strangers who tarry with you for a moment. It is born of
influences and conditions that are permanent. It comes of the happy
sunshine and sweet air that are over your fields, and still more
from the contentment, prosperity, and love and peace that are in
your households. California has been spoken of as a wonderland, and
everywhere we have gone something new, interesting, and surprising has
been presented to our observation. There has been but one monotone in
our journey, and that is the monotone of universal welcome from all
your people. [Cheers.] Everything else has been new and exceptional at
every stop.

My own heart kindles with gladness, my own confidence in American
interests is firmer and more settled as I mingle with the great masses
of our people. You are here in a great agricultural region, reclaimed
from desert waste by the skill and energy of man--a region populated
by a substantial, industrious, thrifty, God-fearing people, a people
devoted to the institutions under which they live, proud to be
Americans, feeling that the American birthright is the best heritage
they can hand down to their children; proud of the great story of
our country from the time of independence to this day; devoted to
institutions that give the largest liberty to the individual and at
the same time secure social order. Here is the firm foundation upon
which our hopes for future security rest. What but our own neglect,
what but our own unfaithfulness, can put in peril either our national
institutions or our local organizations of government? True to
ourselves, true to those principles which we have embodied in our
Government, there is to the human eye no danger that can threaten the
firm base of our institutions.

I am glad to see and meet these happy children. I feel like kneeling
to them as the future sovereigns of this country, and feel as if
it were a profanation to tread upon these sweet flowers that they
have spread in my pathway. God bless them, every one; keep them in
the lives they are to live from all that is evil, fill their little
hearts with sunshine and their mature lives with grace and usefulness.
[Cheers.]

FRESNO, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 25.

A crowd of 10,000 greeted the party at Fresno; upward of 1,000 school children were present, led by Professors Heaton, Sturges, and Sheldon. The Committee of Reception consisted of Mayor S. H. Cole, Dr. Chester A. Rowell, F. G. Berry, Dr. A. J. Pedlar, Dr. St. George Hopkins, W. W. Phillips, I. N. Pattison, Louis Einstein, Nathan W. Moodey, C. W. De Long, and J. C. Herrington. Altanta Post, G. A. R., Capt. Fred Banta, Commander, also Company C, National Guard, Capt. M. W. Muller, and Company F, Capt. C. Chisholm, participated in the reception. A number of handsome floral designs and other mementoes were presented to the several members of the party.

Dr. Rowell delivered the welcoming address. President Harrison, responding, said:

_My Fellow-citizens_--It is altogether impossible for me to reach
with my voice this vast concourse of friends. I can only say I am
profoundly grateful for this enthusiastic greeting. I receive with
great satisfaction the memento you have given me of the varied
products of this most fertile and happy valley. I shall carry it with
me to Washington as a reminder of a scene that will never fade from
my memory. It is very pleasant to know that all these pursuits that
so much engage your thoughts and so industriously employ your time
have not turned your minds away from the love of the flag and of those
institutions which spread their secure power over all your homes. What
is it that makes the scattered homes of our people secure? There is no
policeman at the door; there is no guard to accompany us as we move
across this great continent. You and I are in the safe keeping of the
law and of the affection and regard of all our people. Each respects
the rights of the other. I am glad to receive this manifestation of
your respect. I am glad to drink in this morning with this sunshine
and this sweet balmy air a new impulse to public duty, a new love
for the Union and flag. It is a matter of great regret that I can
return in such a small measure your affectionate greeting. I wish it
were possible I could greet each one of you personally, that it were
possible in some way other than in words to testify to you my grateful
sense of your good-will. [Cheers.]

MERCED, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 25.

The presidential party arrived at Merced shortly after noon and was welcomed by several thousand enthusiastic residents. The Committee of Reception was composed of the following representative citizens: E. T. Dixon, Maj. G. B. Cook, L. R. Fancher, C. H. Marks, E. M. Stoddard, S. A. D. Jones, Frank Howell, W. J. Quigley, M. Goldman, C. E. Fleming, J. H. Rogers, J. A. Norvell, Thomas Harris, Maj. C. Ralston, F. H. Farrar, R. N. Hughes, Judge J. K. Law, Thomas H. Leggett, and H. J. Ostrander. Hancock Post, G. A. R., J. Q. Blackburn, Commander, participated in the reception. Three little girls, Dottie Norvell, Mattie Hall, and Baby Ingalsbe, representing the citizens of Merced, presented Mrs. Harrison with a beautiful souvenir in the shape of a large American flag woven from roses and violets.

Chairman Dixon made the welcoming address, and President Harrison replied in the following words:

_My Fellow-citizens_--I have scarcely been able to finish a meal
since I have been in California. [Laughter.] I find myself hardly
seated at the table till some one reminds me that in about five
minutes I am to meet another throng of cordial and friendly people.
But I think I could have subsisted on this trip through California
without anything to eat, and have dined the while upon the stimulus
and inspiration which your good-will and kindly greetings have
given me. I do not think, however, from what I have seen of these
valleys, that it will be necessary for anyone to live without eating.
[Laughter.] I have been greatly delighted with the agricultural
richness, with the surprises in natural scenery, and in the production
which have met us on this journey. Everywhere something has been
lying in ambush for us, and when I was thinking of prunes and English
walnuts and oranges we suddenly pulled up to a station where they had
a pyramid of pig tin to excite our wonder and interest at the variety
of the production in this marvellous State. But let me say, above all
those fruits and flowers, above all these productions of mine and
field, I have been most pleased with the men and women of California.
[Applause.] It gives me great pleasure, too, to meet everywhere
these little ones. I am fond of children. They attract my interest
always, and the little ones of my own household furnish about the only
relaxation and pleasure I have at Washington. [Applause.] I wish for
your children and for you, out of whose homes they come, and where
they are treasured with priceless affection and tender supervision,
all the blessings that a benign Providence and a good Government
can bestow. I shall be glad if in any way I have the opportunity to
conserve and promote your interests. [Cheers.]

MODESTO, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 25.

Modesto was reached at 2:40 P.M. The veterans of Grant Post, G. A. R., with Company D, N. G. C., and several hundred citizens, gave the President a rousing greeting. The Committee of Reception was Hon. John S. Alexander, Charles A. Post, and Rev. Dr. Webb.

George Perley introduced President Harrison, who spoke as follows:

_Fellow-citizens_--It is very pleasant for me to meet here,
as at all the stations I have passed, a kindly assembly of my
fellow-countrymen. We do not need any one to watch us, nor do we need
to keep watch against anybody else. Peace and good-will characterize
our communities. I was quite amused at a station not far from here to
hear a wondering Chinaman remark as he came up to the train, "Why,
they have no guns on board!" [Laughter.] How different it is with
us!--no retinue, no guards. We travel across this broad country safe
in the confidence and fellowship and kindness of its citizenship. What
other land is there like it? Where else are there homes like ours?
Where else institutions so free and yet so adequate to all the needs
of government, to make the home and community safe, to restrain the
ill-disposed, and everywhere to promote peace and individual happiness?

We congratulate each other that we are American citizens. Without
distinction of party, without taking note of the many existing
differences of opinion, we are all glad to do all in our power to
promote the dignity and prosperity of the country we love. We cannot
love it too much; we cannot be too careful that all our influence is
on the side of good government and of American interests. We do not
wish ill to any other nation or people in the world, but they must
excuse us if we regard our own fellow-citizens as having the highest
claim on our regard. We will promote such measures as look to our own
interests. [Cheers.]

LATHROP, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 25.

The President's arrival at Lathrop was celebrated by several thousand residents, re-enforced by large delegations from the neighboring city of Stockton. The Committee of Reception consisted of James J. Sloan, A. Henry Stevens, Z. T. White, O. H. P. Bailey, E. Jesurun, T. B. Walker, W. S. Reyner, D. Sanguinite, Geo. H. Seay, O. D. Wilson, C. F. Sherburne, F. D. Simpson, and F. J. Walker. The Committee of Reception appointed by the Mayor of Stockton, and participating in behalf of that city, was J. K. Doak, F. J. Ryan, I. S. Haines, Willis Lynch, H. R. McNoble, J. M. Dormer, and F. T. Baldwin. A feature of the reception was 100 school children, each carrying a bouquet, which they presented to the President and Mrs. Harrison, both of whom kissed several of the little donors. Postmaster Sloan delivered the welcoming address. The President, responding, said:

_My Fellow-citizens_--I should be less than human if I were not
touched by the rapid succession of hearty greetings received by us in
our journey through California. I should be more than human if I were
able to say something new or interesting at each of these assemblies.

My heart has but one language: it is, "I thank you."

Most tenderly do I feel as an individual so much of this kindness
as is personal to me, and as a public official I am most profoundly
grateful that the American people so unitedly show their love and
devotion to the Constitution and the flag.

We have a Government of the majority; it is the original compact
that when the majority has been fairly counted at the polls, the
expressed will of that majority, taking the form of public law enacted
by State Legislatures or the national Congress, shall be the sole rule
of conduct of every loyal man. [Cheers.]

We have no other king than law, and he is entitled to the allegiance
of every heart and bowed knee of every citizen. [Cries of "Good!
good!" and cheers.]

I cannot look forward with any human apprehension to any danger to
our country, unless it approaches us through a corrupt ballot-box.
[Applause.] Let us keep that spring pure, and these happy valleys
shall teem with an increasing population of happy citizens, and our
country shall find in an increasing population only increased unity
and strength. [Cheers.]

SAN FRANCISCO, APRIL 25.

At Keyes Station, near Merced, the presidential train was joined by a special car containing the San Francisco escort committee. The following gentlemen composed the party and represented the organizations named: Mexican Veterans--Maj. R. P. Hammond. California Pioneers--L. L. Baker, W. B. Farwell, Nathaniel Holland, and Col. A. W. von Schmidt. Citizens' Committee--E. S. Pillsbury, J. B. Crockett, M. M. Estee, Irving M. Scott, W. D. English, and Rev. Dr. Samuel V. Leech. Loyal Legion and Grand Army of the Republic--Chief Engineer J. W. Moore, U. S. N., Commander Loyal Legion; Past Senior Vice-Commander-in-Chief S. W. Backus; Past Department Commanders W. H. Aiken, E. Carlson, C. Mason Kinne, W. A. Robinson, R. H. Marfield, W. R. Smedburg, E. S. Salomon, T. H. Goodman, G. E. Gard, and A. J. Buckles; Past Junior Vice-Commander Jesse B. Fuller, Adjt.-Gen. T. C. Mastellar, Past Commander J. M. Litchfield, Congressmen E. F. Loud and John T. Cutting, comrades J. P. Meehan, S. S. Flint, and A. J. Hawes.