and especially the Governor of your State, for courtesies which have
been unfailing, for a cordiality and friendliness that has not found
any stint or repression in the fact that we are of different political
opinions [great cheering], I beg to thank you for this special
manifestation of respect, and to ask you to excuse me from further
speech. I shall follow such arrangements as your committee have made,
and shall be glad if in those arrangements there is some provision by
which I may meet as many of you as possible individually. [Prolonged
cheering.]
DEL RIO, TEXAS, APRIL 21.
The chief incident of the long run from San Antonio to El Paso was the
enthusiastic reception tendered the President by the residents of the
thriving frontier town of Del Rio, county seat of Val Verde County. The
town was handsomely decorated, and the following Reception Committee
welcomed the President and party: Judge W. K. Jones, C. S. Brodbent,
Zeno Fielder, J. A. Price, H. D. Bonnett, E. L. Dignowity, Paul Flato,
Clyde Woods, Thomas Cunningham, W. C. Easterling, J. C. Clarkson, E. G.
Nicholson, C. G. Leighton, and R. J. Felder.
Rev. Dr. H. S. Thrall, the veteran historian of Texas, delivered the
address of welcome. The President, responding, said:
_My Friends_--I had supposed when we left San Antonio that we were
not to be stopped very often between that point and El Paso with such
assemblages of our fellow-citizens. We had settled down to an easy
way of living on the train, and I had supposed that speech-making
would not be taken up until to-morrow. I thank you most cordially
for this friendly evidence of your interest, and I assure you that
all of these matters to which your spokesman has alluded are having
the most careful consideration of the authorities at Washington.
The Secretary of Agriculture, who is with me on the train, has been
diligent in an effort to open European markets for American meats,
and he has succeeded so far that our exportation has very largely
increased in the last year. It is our hope that these restrictions
may still further be removed, and that American meat products may
have a still larger market in Europe than they have had for very many
years past. The inspections now provided by law certainly must remove
every reasonable objection to the use of American meats; for we shall
demonstrate to them that they are perfectly wholesome and pure. I want
to say, from the time of my induction into office until this hour I
have had before me constantly the need of the American farmer of a
larger market for his products. [Cries of "Good! good!" and cheers.]
Whatever we can do to accomplish that will be done. I want to thank
the public-school children for this address which they have placed in
my hands. What a blessed thing it is that the public school system is
found with the pioneer! It follows the buffalo very closely. I am
glad to find that your children are being trained in intelligence and
in those moral restraints which shall make them good citizens. I thank
you for your kindly presence.
EL PASO, TEXAS, APRIL 21.
The enterprising city of El Paso was reached at 10 o'clock Tuesday
morning, and the President was tendered a veritable ovation. The
reception at this point partook of an international aspect. President
Diaz of Mexico was represented in the person of Governor Carrillo,
Chief Executive of the State of Chihuahua, accompanied by a brilliant
staff of 20 officers. The War Department of the Mexican Government was
represented by Gen. José Maria Ranjel, Chief of the Second Military
Zone, accompanied by his staff, a company of artillery, and the Eleventh
Battalion Band of 45 instruments. From the City of Mexico came Col.
Ricardo Villanueva and Col. Ygnacio J. Monroy, representing the Federal
Government, while the neighboring city of Juarez was represented by
Colonel Ross, commander of the garrison, Señor Mejia, Señor Urtetiga,
and many other prominent citizens. The city of El Paso was represented
by Mayor Richard Caples and the members of the City Council. The
Citizens' Committee of Reception comprised W. S. Hills, Chairman; E. B.
Bronson, M. B. Davis, S. W. Russell, W. F. Payne, Frank P. Clark, C. F.
Slack, Geo. L. Stewart, H. S. Beattie, Judge Allen Blacker, A. Solomon,
W. B. Merrick, A. Berla, Louis Papin, Geo. E. Bovee, James A. Smith,
Hon. S. W. T. Lanham, A. J. Eaton, Z. T. White, W. S. McCutcheon, A. M.
Loomis, H. C. Myles, Ben Schuster, A. J. Sampson, D. W. Reckhart, and J.
F. Satterthwaite.
Governor Carrillo stood beside President Harrison during the reception.
After the distinguished Mexicans had paid their respects and greeted our
Chief Magistrate, Gen. A. G. Malloy, on behalf of the citizens of El
Paso, in an eloquent address welcomed him to the Gate City of the two
republics.
President Harrison responded as follows:
_My Fellow-citizens_--I have been journeying for several days
throughout the great State of Texas. We are now about to leave her
territory and receive from you this parting salutation. Our entrance
into the State was with every demonstration of respect and enthusiasm.
This is a fitting close to the magnificent expression which the
people of this State have given to us. I am glad to stand at this
gateway of trade with the great republic of Mexico. [Cries of "Hear!
hear!" and cheers.] I am glad to know that it is not only a gateway
of commerce, but a gateway of friendship [cheers]; that not only do
these hurrying vehicles of commerce bear the products of the fields
and mines in mutual exchange, but that they have facilitated those
personal relations which have promoted and must yet more promote the
friendliness of two independent liberty-loving peoples. [Cheers.]
I receive with great satisfaction these tributes of respect
which have been brought to me by the Governor of Chihuahua and the
representatives of the army of Mexico. [Cheers.] I desire to return to
them and through them to the people of Mexico and to that illustrious
and progressive statesman who presides over her destinies [cheers] not
only my sincere personal regard, but an assurance of the friendliness
and respect of the American Government and the American people. I look
forward with interest to a larger development of our trade; to the
opening of new lines of commerce and new avenues of friendship. We
have passed that era in our history, I hope, when we were aggressive
and unpleasant neighbors. We do not covet the territory of any other
people [cheers], but do covet their friendship and those trade
exchanges which are mutually profitable. [Cheers.]
And now to you, my fellow-citizens, I bring congratulations for
the rapid development which you are making here, and extend the most
cordial good wishes for the realization of every hope you have for
El Paso and its neighborhood. [Cheers.] All republics are builded
on the respect and confidence of the people. They are enduring and
stable as their institutions and their rulers continue to preserve
their respect. I rejoice that those influences that tend to soften the
asperities of human life--the home, the school, and the church--have
kept pace with the enterprises of commerce and are established here
among you. All commerce and trade rest upon the foundation of social
order. You cannot attract an increased citizenship except as you give
to the world a reputation for social order [cheers], in which crime is
suppressed, in which the rights of the humble are respected [cheers],
and where the courts stand as the safe bulwark of the personal and
public rights of every citizen, however poor. [Cheers.] I trust that
as your city grows you will see that these foundations are carefully
and broadly laid, and then you may hope that the superstructure,
magnificent in its dimensions, perfect in its security and grace,
shall rise in your midst. [Cheers.]
I am glad to meet my comrades of the Grand Army of the Republic
[cheers], the survivors of the grand struggle for the Union. It was
one of the few wars in history that brought blessings to the "victors
and vanquished," and was followed by no proscriptions, no block, no
executions, but by the reception of those who had striven for the
destruction of the country into friendly citizenship, laying upon them
no yoke that was not borne by the veterans--that of obedience to the
law and a due respect for the rights of others. [Cheers.]
Again, sir [to the Mexican representative], I thank you for the
friendly greeting you have brought from across this narrow river that
separates us, and to you my fellow-countrymen, I extend my thanks and
bid you good-by. [Prolonged cheers.]
DEMING, NEW MEXICO, APRIL 21.
As the train crossed the Rio Grande and entered New Mexico Hon. L.
Bradford Prince, Governor of that Territory, gave the Chief Magistrate
a cordial welcome. Deming was reached at 2 o'clock. The city was in
holiday attire; a battery of artillery thundered the presidential
salute, two companies of the Tenth Cavalry, under Captain Keyes, came
to a present as the President appeared, and the Twenty-fourth Infantry
Band burst forth in patriotic strains. The Committee of Reception
comprised the following prominent citizens: Judge Boone, C. H. Dane, B.
A. Knowles, J. R. Meyers, A. J. Clark, J. P. Bryon, W. H. Hudson, S.
M. Ashenfelter, Gustav Wormser, Ed. Pennington, W. Burg, James Martin,
Colonel Fitzerell, James A. Lockhart, Seaman Field, John Corbett, E.
G. Ross, and Robert Campbell. Professor Hayes delivered the welcoming
address.
In reply President Harrison said:
_My Fellow-citizens_--It gives me great pleasure to tarry for a
moment here and to receive out on these broad and sandy plains the
same evidence of friendliness that has greeted me in the States. I
feel great interest in your people, and thinking that you have labored
under a disadvantage by reason of the unsettled state of your land
titles--because no country can settle up and become populous while the
titles to its land remain insecure--it was my pleasure to urge upon
Congress, both in a general and special message, the establishment of
a special land court to settle this question once for all. [Cheers.]
I am glad that the statute is now a law, and immediately upon my
return from this trip I expect to announce the judges of that court,
and to set them immediately to work upon these cases, so that you
shall certainly, within two years, have all these questions settled.
I hope you will then see an increase of population that has not as
yet been possible, and which will tend to develop your great mineral
resources and open up your lands to settlement. Thanking you, on
behalf of our party, for this pleasant greeting, I bid you good-by.
[Cheers.]
LORDSBURG, NEW MEXICO, APRIL 21.
At Lordsburg, New Mexico, the train made a brief stop. A number of
citizens, headed by Don. H. Kedzee, welcomed the President and presented
him a handsome silver box, manufactured from metal mined in the
vicinity. On the case was inscribed, "Protect the chief industry of our
Territories. Give us free coinage of silver." In accepting the memento
the President said: "Mr. Kedzee and gentlemen, I thank you for this
cordial welcome and for this elegant souvenir, and assure you due care
will be taken of your interests." [Cheers.]
TUCSON, ARIZONA, APRIL 21.
Tucson, the metropolis of Arizona, was brilliantly illuminated in
honor of the visitors, who were welcomed by 5,000 citizens and a band
of Papago Indians. Negley Post, G. A. R., J. J. Hill, Commander,
represented the veterans. The city government was present in the persons
of Mayor Frederick Maish and Councilmen M. G. Sameniego, M. Lamont, Geo.
Lesure, Wm. Reid, Frank Miltenberg, and Julius Goldbaum. The Committee
of Reception on the part of the citizens comprised many of the most
distinguished men of the Territory as well as of the city, among whom
were: Federal Judges R. E. Sloan and H. C. Gooding, Gen. R. A. Johnson,
Gen. R. H. Paul, Charles R. Drake, Herbert Brown, Brewster Cameron,
J. Knox Corbett, George Christ, J. S. McGee, S. Ainsa, Samuel Hughes,
Juan Elias, Rev. Howard Billman, Albert Steinfeld, H. S. Stevens, M.
P. Freeman, S. M. Franklin, W. C. Davis, W. M. Lovell, J. S. Noble, H.
B. Tenny, F. H. Hereford, D. C. Driscoll, J. C. Handy, J. A. Black,
Thomas Hughes, A. J. Keen, J. M. Ormsby, H. E. Lacy, G. B. Henry, Frank
Allison, George Pusch, H. W. Fenner, R. D. Furguson, F. J. Henry, and C.
C. Eyster.
Hon. Thos. F. Wilson made the address of welcome. The President said:
_My Fellow-citizens_--It is surprising as well as gratifying to
see so many friends assembled to greet us on our arrival at Tucson
to-night. I beg to assure you that the interests of the Territories
are very close to my heart. By reason of my service as Chairman of the
Territory Committee in the United States Senate I was brought to study
very closely the needs of the Territories. I have had great pleasure
issuing the proclamations admitting five Territories to the sisterhood
of States since I became President. I realize the condition of the
people of the Territory without having representation in Congress as
one of disadvantage, and I am friendly to the suggestion that these
Territories, as they have sufficient population to sustain a State
Government and to secure suitable administration of the own affairs,
shall be received into the Union. [Cheers.] It will be gratifying to
me if you shall come into that condition during the time that I occupy
the presidential chair. [Cheers.] I thank you again for your cordial
demonstration, and beg to present to you that gentleman of the Cabinet
who has charge of the postal affairs, Mr. Wanamaker. [Prolonged
cheers.]
INDIO, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 22.
The morning of the 22d brought the President and his party out of the
great desert to the borders of California, where at Indio, the first
station, they were enthusiastically greeted by the Governor of the
State, Hon. Henry H. Markham, at the head of the following distinguished
committee: Senator Charles N. Felton, ex-Gov. Geo. C. Perkins, Col.
Charles F. Crocker, Hon. R. F. Del Valle, Hon. Stephen M. White, Gen.
E. P. Johnson, Hon. Hervey Lindley, Hon. Freeman G. Teed, Hon. Irwin
C. Stump, Hon. Frank McCoppin, and Adjutant-General Allen. From the
districts adjacent to Indio were gathered several hundred people to
greet the Chief Magistrate, mostly Indians. Postmaster A. G. Tingman
introduced the venerable Chief Cabazon, head of the Cohuilla tribe
and over 100 years old, who presented a petition to the President
asking that the lands guaranteed his people by the treaty with Mexico
be restored to them. Governor Markham delivered a cordial welcoming
address, wherein he reviewed the wonderful growth of California.
The President, in reply, said he would not undertake, while almost
choked with the dust of the plains he had just left, to say all that
he hoped to say in the way of pleasant greetings to the citizens of
California. Some time, when he had been refreshed by their olive oil and
their vineyards, he would endeavor to express his gratification at being
able to visit California. He had long desired to visit California, and
it was the objective point of this trip. He had seen the northern coast
and Puget Sound, but had never before been able to see California. He
remembered from boyhood the excitement of the discovery of gold, and
had always distantly followed California's growth and progress. The
acquisition of California was second only to that of Louisiana and the
control of the Mississippi River. It secured us this great coast, and
made impossible the ownership of a foreign power on any of our coast
line. It has helped to perfect our magnificent isolation, which is our
great protection against foreign aggression. He thanked the Governor and
committee for their kindly reception, and assured them that if he should
have any complaints to make of his treatment in California it would be
because its people had been too hospitable.
COLTON, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 22.
At Colton the presidential party were enthusiastically greeted by
several thousand people. The Citizens' Committee comprised A. B. Miner,
Chairman; Dr. Fox, J. B. Shepardson, Wilson Hays, W. H. Wright, F. M.
Hubbard, Dr. Hutchinson, H. B. Smith, J. W. Davis, S. M. Goddard, J. B.
Hanna, Captain Topp, W. W. Wilcox, M. A. Murphy, Prof. Mathews, R. A.
Kuhn, C. B. Hamilton, J. M. White, Dr. Sprecher, Geo. E. Slaughter, R.
F. Franklin, E. A. Pettijohn, E. E. Thompson, Dan Swartz, R. M. McKie,
Wm. McCully and Proctor McCann. The committee appointed to wait on Mrs.
Harrison were: Mesdames Hubbard, Button, Shepardson, Fuller, Gilbert,
Shibley, Hebbard, and Wright. Twelve school-girls presented as many
baskets of oranges to the lady of the White House.
The President addressed the assemblage and said:
_My Fellow-citizens_--We have travelled now something more than
3,500 miles. They have been 3,500 miles of cordial greeting from my
fellow-citizens; they have been 3,500 miles of perpetual talk. It
would require a brain more fertile in resources, more diversified
in its operations than the State of California in its richness and
productions, to say something original or interesting at each one of
these stopping places; but I can say always with a warm heart to my
fellow-citizens who greet me so cordially, who look to me out of such
kindly faces, I thank you; I am your servant in all things that will
conduce to the general prosperity and happiness of the American people.
Remote from us of the far East in distance, we are united to you
not only by the ties of a common citizenship, by the reverence and
honor we joyfully give to the one flag, but by those interchanges
of emigration which have brought so many of the people of the older
States to you. At every station where I have stopped since entering
California some Hoosier has reached up his hand to greet me [laughter
and cheers], and the omnipresent Ohio man, of course, I have found
everywhere. I was assured by these gentlemen that they were making
their full contributions to the development of your country, and that
they have possessed themselves of their fair share of it.
I have been greatly pleased this morning to come out of the land of
the desert and the drifting sand into this land of homes and smiling
women and bright children. I have been glad to see these beautiful
gardens and these fertile fields, and to know that you are now, by
the economical collection and distribution of the waters of the
hills, making all these valleys to blossom like the garden of Eden.
We do not come to spy the land with any view of dispossessing you, as
the original spies went into Palestine. We come simply to exchange
friendly greetings, and we shall hope to carry away nothing that does
not belong to us. [Cheers.]
If we shall leave your happy and prosperous State freighted with
your good-will and love, as we shall leave ours with you, it will be a
happy exchange. [Cheers.]
ONTARIO, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 22.
At Ontario the President received a most patriotic greeting; throngs of
school children brought him flowers. The Reception Committee was G. T.
Stamm, I. S. Miller, E. P. Clarke, S. G. Blood, R. E. Blackburn, G. W.
A. Luckey, Dr. O. S. Ensign, Dr. R. H. Tremper, and O. S. Picher.
H. Z. Osborne, of the Los Angeles committee, introduced the President,
who spoke as follows:
_My Friends_--I thank you for this cordial greeting. I am sure you
will excuse me from extended remarks. I have been subjected to such
a strain in that direction that my brain needs irrigation to make it
blossom with new thoughts. It to me is a pleasure to look into the
intelligent faces of American citizens. No such people gather in any
other country as meet me at every station. They come from good homes,
which are the safety of our commonwealth. I am pleased to see these
children here. Good schools have everywhere followed the pioneer. You
have brought to this new country the old New England ideas of thrift,
of living on a little and having a good deal left over. [Cheers.]
BANNING, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 22.
Banning, the gateway to Southern California, gave the presidential
party an enthusiastic welcome and loaded them down with fruits and
flowers. Mr. Louis Munson, editor of the Banning _Herald_, at the head
of the Reception Committee, delivered the welcoming address. The next
day at Arlington, where he had gone to again assist in receiving the
President, Mr. Munson was suddenly taken with hemorrhage and died as the
train passed. Other members of the committee were M. G. Kelley, W. S.
Hathaway, C. H. Ingelow, W. H. Ingelow, Dr. J. C. King, F. J. Clancy, W.
Morris, and M. L. Bridge. Two hundred Indian school children, in charge
of Miss Morris and Father Hahn, were objects of interest to the party.
Replying to Mr. Munson's address, the President said that although the
good people of Banning were far in point of distance from the seat of
government, yet he was sure they were bound nearly and close to it by
ties of loyalty and of patriotism. He expressed his pleasure at meeting
the citizens of Banning and his appreciation of their cordial welcome.
POMONA, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 22.
At Pomona the President's car was profusely decorated with floral
designs by the ladies of the town. The members of the Reception
Committee were Senator J. E. McComas, Rev. Chas. F. Loop, W. E. Ward,
W. M. Woody, A. H. Wilbur, F. P. Firey, C. I. Lorbeer, Capt. T. C.
Thomas, Geo. Osgoodby, C. D. Ambrose, Con Howe, John E. Packard, and E.
B. Smith. Vicksburg Post, G. A. R., H. H. Williams, Commander, was in
attendance.
Responding to their cheers and calls the President said:
This cordial demonstration of respect, these friendly greetings,
make me your debtor. I beg to thank you for it all, and out of such
gatherings as these, out of the friendly manifestations you have
given me on my entrance to California, I hope to get new impulses to
a more faithful and diligent discharge of the public duties which
my fellow-citizens have devolved upon me. No man can feel himself
adequate to these responsible functions, but I am sure if you shall
judge your public servants to be conscientiously devoted to your
interests, to the bringing to the discharge of their public duties a
conscientious fidelity and the best intelligence with which they are
endowed, you will pardon any shortcoming. Again I thank you for your
friendliness and beg you to excuse me from further speech.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 22.