you to-night, especially these old comrades, to whom I am glad to
give a comrade's greeting. I would have you think of me as a comrade.
I recall those army scenes which are fresh in your minds as well as
mine, the scenes of privation, suffering, and battle, and I am glad to
see that the old flag you took to the field and brought home in honor
is still held in honor among you. It is a beautiful emblem of a great
Government. We ought to teach our children to love it and to regard
it as a sacred thing, a thing for which men have died and for which
men will die. It symbolizes the government of the States under one
Constitution, for while you are all Oregonians as I am an Indianian,
and each has his pride in State institutions and all that properly
pertains to our State Government, we have a larger and greater pride
in the fact that we are citizens of a Nation, of a Union of States,
having a common Constitution. [Cheers.]
It is this flag that represents us on the sea and in foreign
countries, it is under this flag that our navies sail and our armies
march. I thank you for this cordial greeting. I hope you have found
in this State comfortable homes, and that in the years that remain to
you God will follow you with those blessings which your courage and
patriotism and sacrifices have so well merited. [Cheers.]
ALBANY, OREGON, MAY 5.
The presidential party arrived at the thriving city of Albany, in the
Willamette Valley, at 8 o'clock on the morning of the 5th, and were
received by 5,000 people. Mayor J. L. Cowan headed the Committee of
Reception, consisting of J. W. Cusick, Judge L. Flinn, W. C. Tweedale,
J. R. Whitney, L. E. Blain, M. Sternberg, G. F. Simpson, Dr. D. M.
Jones, A. Hackleman, and Thomas Monteith. McPherson Post, G. A. R.,
J. F. Whiting, Commander, and Company F, O. N. G., Capt. Geo. E.
Chamberlain, together with 200 students from the State Agricultural
College at Corvallis, under Prof. J. D. Letcher, participated in the
reception. Mayor Cowan delivered the address of welcome.
President Harrison, in response, said:
_My Fellow-citizens_--It gives me great pleasure to see you, and
to have the testimony of your presence here this wet morning to the
interest you take in this little party of strangers who are pausing
only for a moment with you. We do not need any assurance, as we
look over an American audience like this, that upon some things,
at least, we are of one mind. One of these things is that we have a
Union indissoluble; that we have a flag we all honor, and that shall
suffer no dishonor from any quarter. While I regret the inclemency of
the morning, I have been thinking that after all there was a sort of
instructive moral force in the uncertainty of the weather, which our
friends in Southern California do not enjoy. How can a boy or young
woman be well trained in self-denial and resignation who does not
know what it is to have a picnic or picnic dress spoiled by a shower,
or some fishing excursion by a storm? I thank you for this welcome.
[Cheers.]
SALEM, OREGON, MAY 5.
Salem, the capital of Oregon, was reached at 9 A.M. The local militia
and several thousand citizens assembled to greet the President,
including Governor Pennoyer, Mayor P. H. D'Arcy, Charles Morris, E.
M. Waite, A. N. Gilbert, William Brown, and other prominent citizens;
also, the Legislative Reception Committee, headed by Hon. Joseph Simon,
President of the Senate, and Hon. T. T. Geer, Speaker of the House. _En
route_ from the depot to the State House thousands of people lined the
sidewalks and several hundred school children, bearing flags, waved
a cordial greeting. Arriving at the Assembly Chamber, Mayor D'Arcy
presided and welcomed the President in the name of the city; he was
followed by Governor Pennoyer, who extended "a generous, heartfelt
welcome on behalf of the people of Oregon."
With marked earnestness President Harrison responded as follows:
_Governor Pennoyer, Mr. Mayor and Fellow-citizens_--It is very
pleasant to be assured by these kindly words which have been spoken
by the Governor of this State and by the chief officer of this
municipality that we are welcome to the State of Oregon and to the
city of Salem. I find here, as I found elsewhere, that these cordial
words of welcome are repeated with increased emphasis by the kindly
faces of those who assemble to greet us. I am glad that here as
elsewhere we look into the faces of happy, prosperous, contented,
liberty-loving, patriotic American citizens. Our birthright, the
wise anticipation of those who framed our Government, our national
and constitutional organization, which has repeated itself in all
the States of the Union, this wholesome and just division of power
between the three great independent, co-ordinate branches of the
Government--the executive, the legislative, and the judicial--has
already demonstrated that what seems to the nations of Europe to be
a complicated and jangling system produces in fact the most perfect
harmony, and the most complete and satisfactory organization for
social order and for national strength.
We stand here to-day in one of these halls set apart to the
law-making body of your State. Those who assemble here are chosen by
your suffrages. They come here as representatives to enact into laws
those views of public questions which have met the sanction of the
majority of your people, expressed in an orderly and honest way at
the ballot-box. I hope it may be always found to be true of Oregon
that your legislative body is a representative body; that coming
from the people, its service is consecrated to the people, and the
purpose of its creation is attained by giving to the well-ordered
and well-disposed the largest liberty, by curbing, by wholesome
laws, the ill-disposed and the lawless, and providing by economical
methods for the public needs. The judiciary, that comes next in our
system, to interpret and apply the public statutes, has been in our
country a safe refuge for all who are oppressed. It is greatly to our
credit as a Nation that with rare exceptions those who have worn the
judicial ermine in the highest tribunals of the country, and notably
in the Supreme Court of the United States, have continued to retain
the confidence of the people of the whole country. The duty of the
Executive is to administer the law; the military power is lodged with
him under constitutional limitations. He does not frame statutes,
though in most States, and under our national Government, a veto
power is lodged in him with a view to secure reconsideration of any
particular measure.
But a public executive officer has one plain duty: it is to enforce
the law with kindness and forbearance, but with promptness and
inexorable decision. He may not choose what laws he will enforce any
more than the citizen may choose what laws he will obey. We have here
but one king: it is the law, passed by those constitutional methods
which are necessary to make it binding upon the people, and to that
king all men must bow. It is my great pleasure to find so generally
everywhere a disposition to obey the law. I have but one message for
the North and for the South, for the East and the West, as I journey
through this land. It is to hold up the law, and to say everywhere
that every man owes allegiance to it, and that all law-breakers
must be left to the deliberate and safe judgment of an established
tribunal. You are justly proud of your great State. Its capabilities
are enormous; its adaptation to comfortable life is peculiar and fine.
The years will bring you increased population and increased wealth.
I hope they will bring with it, marching in this stately progress of
material things, those finer things--piety, pure homes, and orderly
communities. But above all this State pride, over all our rejoicings
in the advantages which are about us in our respective States, we look
with greater pride to that great arch of government that unites these
States and makes of them all one great Union. But, my fellow-citizens,
the difficulties that I see interposed between us and the train which
is scheduled to depart very soon warn me to bring these remarks
to a speedy close. I beg again, most profoundly, to thank you for
this evidence of your respect, this evidence of your love for the
institutions of our common country. [Cheers.]
CHEMAWA, OREGON, MAY 5.
At Chemawa, the seat of an Indian training-school, the President
reviewed the pupils and, in response to calls for a speech, addressed
them as follows:
_My Young Friends_--It gives me great pleasure to stop for a moment
to see these evidences of the good work the Government is doing for
you and the good work you are doing for yourselves. All the purposes
of the Government toward you and your people are benevolent and
friendly. It is our wish that you may become such people as your
neighbors are--industrious, kindly, peaceful, and self-respecting.
Everything that I can do to promote this end will be gladly done.
I hope your instructors and all those who are brought close to you
will in every way express and carry out the benevolent and kindly
intentions of the Government.
OREGON CITY, OREGON, MAY 5.
A cordial greeting was accorded the President at Oregon City by the
pioneers and army veterans. The Committee of Reception was Hon. J. T.
Apperson, Hon. H. E. Cross, Hon. T. W. Sullivan, and T. Rands. From
beneath a triumphal floral arch near the station the Mayor delivered a
welcoming address, closing with three cheers.
The President, in response, said:
_Fellow-citizens_--This is a very pleasant morning reception. The
heartiness and genuineness of your greeting is unmistakable, and I
beg to assure you that we most heartily appreciate and return your
kindly thoughts. You have here a most important State, one of those
bordering on the Pacific, completing the autonomy of our great
country, and giving us a seaboard on the Pacific as well as upon the
Atlantic which was essential to our completeness and separateness as
a people. The interesting story of the early settlement of Oregon, of
the international contest which for some time threatened international
war, is fresh in the minds of these pioneers, and I am sure is taught
to these children of your public schools. The work of those who set up
the American flag here, and who secured to us this fertile region, is
worthy of mention and of honorable commemoration by this generation,
which is entering into their labors. Your State has added another
to that succession of kindly greetings which began when we left the
national capital. We have come out of the land of irrigation and
roses into this land where the Lord takes care of the crops; and this
dependence upon the seasons is not without its instructive and moral
influences. Nature seems to have made a fresh, white toilet for us as
we have come down the banks of this beautiful river. To the pioneers,
to those who have entered in with less labor to the inheritance left
to them, to these children and to these comrades of the Grand Army, I
give my most hearty greeting.
PORTLAND, OREGON, MAY 5.
Tuesday, at noon, found the President and his party at Portland, where
they received an enthusiastic greeting. Ten thousand people were
present, notwithstanding the rainy weather. The President was welcomed
at the station by Mayor Van B. De Lashmutt and wife, Chief-Justice R.
S. Strahan, Supreme Judges W. P. Lord and R. S. Bean, Federal Judge M.
P. Deady, Hon. Joseph Simon, President of the Senate; Hon. T. T. Geer,
Speaker of the House; ex-Atty.-Gen. Geo. H. Williams, Hon. T. F. Osborn,
President Chamber of Commerce; Hon. E. B. McElroy, Gen. O. Summers, Gen.
Wm. Kapus, Hon. M. C. George, Hon. Henry Failing, Hon. C. A. Dolph, Hon.
P. L. Willis, Hon. F. V. Drake, Hon. G. L. Story, Hon. J. C. Moreland,
Hon. J. C. Fullerton, Hon. H. B. Miller, Philip Metschan, and Mrs. Rosa
F. Burrell; also W. F. Matlock, J. H. McClung, and S. B. Eakin, Jr., of
Eugene City.
The parade was a brilliant affair. The veterans of the several G. A.
R. posts acted as the guard of honor. The great column was directed by
Col. T. M. Anderson, U. S. A., aided by O. F. Paxton, Chief of Staff;
C. M. Idleman, D. S. Tuthill, Dr. Henry E. Jones, J. G. Woodworth, R.
W. Mitchell, F. K. Arnold, L. A. Lewis, E. C. Michenor, C. R. Holcomb,
Charles E. Dodd, J. C. Courtney, J. A. Sladden, John Gwilt, G. A.
Harding, Gen. C. S. Wright, Gen. C. P. Holloway, Col. R. S. Greenleaf,
Col. D. H. Turner, N. S. Pierce, G. E. Caukin, A. E. Borthwick, Col. H.
H. Northup, Col. R. T. Chamberlain, G. H. Durham, H. C. Allen, E. A.
Weed, M. J. Morse, Geo. C. Sears, F. R. Neal, Dr. W. H. Saylor, Capt. J.
E. Lombard, C. E. Dubois, H. P. Wilson, and M. G. Steffen.
Conspicuous in the procession were the following staff officers of the
Department of the Columbia: Maj. C. A. Wikoff, Maj. W. H. Nash, Maj.
J. C. Muhlenberg, Maj. J. G. C. Lee, and Captains C. McClure and C.
H. Ingalls; also Hon. R. P. Earhart, Geo. A. Steel, F. P. Mays, E. T.
Hatch, J. T. Stewart, Mayor of East Portland; D. M. McLauchlin, Mayor of
Albina; A. M. Crawford, of Roseburg, and the French, Russian, and Danish
vice-consuls.
In the evening five companies of the First Regiment, O. N. G., commanded
by Col. Charles F. Beebe, escorted the President, Secretary Rusk, and
Postmaster-General Wanamaker to the Exposition Building, where an
audience of 15,000 greeted them. Mayor De Lashmutt delivered an eloquent
address of welcome.
President Harrison was tendered an ovation as he arose to respond. He
said:
_Mr. Mayor and Fellow-citizens_--No more brilliant or inspiring
scene than this has been presented to our eyes in this wonderful
series of receptions which have been extended to us on our journey.
You have been filled with regret to-day that your weeping skies did
not present to us the fair spectacle which you had hoped; and yet this
very discouragement has but added to the glory of this magnificent
reception. [Cheers.] To stand in the bright sunshine of a genial day
and to wave a welcome is not so strong a proof of the affectionate
interest of a people as you have given to-day standing in this
down-pouring rain [Cheers.] In the presence of a multitude like this,
in a scene made brilliant by these decorations, I stand inadequate to
any suitable expression of the gratitude that fills my heart. [Cheers.]
I was quite inclined to stand by the Superintendent of the Census
in the count which he made of the States; but I am afraid if I had
witnessed this scene, pending your application for a recount, that it
would have been granted. [Laughter and great cheering.] I am sorry
that it could not have been made as the people turned out to give us
this welcome; I am sure no one would have been missed. [Laughter and
cheers.]
This State is interesting in its history. The establishment of the
authority of the United States over this region was an important event
in our national history. The possession of the Columbia and of Puget
Sound was essential to the completeness and the roundness of our
empire. We have here in this belt of States, reaching from the Gulf
of California to the Straits of Fuca, a magnificent possession which
we could not have dispensed with at all. [Cheers.] The remoteness
of Oregon from the older settled States, the peril and privation
which attended the steps of the pioneer as he came hither, delayed
the development of this great country. You are now but beginning to
realize the advantage of closer and easier communications. You are but
now beginning to receive from an impartial and beneficent Government
that attention which you well deserve. [Cheers.]
That this river of yours should be made safe and deep, so that
waiting commerce may come without obstruction to your wharf, is to be
desired. [Cheers.] It should receive those appropriations which are
necessary to make the work accomplish the purpose in view. [Cheers.] I
believe that you may anticipate a largely increased commerce. Looking
out as you do toward the regions across the Pacific, it would be but
natural that this important centre should draw from them and exchange
with them a great and increasing commerce. [Cheers.] I am in entire
sympathy with the suggestion of the Mayor that it is important that
this commerce should be carried in American ships. [Cheers.] A few
days ago, when I sailed in the harbor of San Francisco, I saw three
great deep water ships come into that port. One carried the flag of
Hawaii and two the English flag. None bore at the masthead the Stars
and Stripes. I believe it is the duty of the national Government
to take such steps as will restore the American merchant marine.
[Cheers.] Why shall we not have our share in the great commerce of
the world? I cannot but believe--and such inspiring presences as this
but kindle and confirm my belief--that we are come to a time when
this Nation should look to the future and step forward bravely and
courageously in new lines of enterprise. [Cheers.]
The Nicaragua Canal should be completed. [Cheers.] Our harbors
should have adequate defence. [Cheers.] We should have upon the sea a
navy of first-class ships. [Cheers.] We are here in the most kindly
relations to these South American and Central American countries. We
have been content that Europe should do the commerce of these nations.
We have not availed ourselves of the advantages of neighborhood
and of friendly kindred republican institutions to develop our
commerce with those people. We have, fortunately, as a result of the
great conference of American nations, set on foot measures that I
confidently hope will bring to us speedily our just share of this
great commerce. [Cheers.]
I am glad to know that we are here to-night as American citizens,
lovers of the one flag and the one Constitution. [Enthusiastic
cheering.] Proud of Oregon! Yes, you may well be proud of Oregon.
But, my countrymen, above all, crowning all, greater than all, is our
American citizenship. [Great cheering.] What would one of these States
be without the other? What is it that gives us prestige abroad and
power at home? It is that we have formed a government of the people,
that we have one flag and speak with one voice to all the nations
of the earth. [Enthusiastic cheering.] I hope that narrow sentiment
that regards the authority of the United States or its officers as
alien or strange has once and forever been extinguished in this land
of ours. [Great cheering.] My countrymen, I am profoundly grateful
for this magnificent demonstration. I accept it as a tribute to your
institutions and to your country. No man is worthy of it; he can
only return for it a fresh consecration of himself to the duties of
public office and private citizenship. [Great cheering.] Again I
assure you that you have given us to-day what is to my mind, under the
conditions, taking into account the population of your city, the most
splendid demonstration we have seen on the whole journey. [Prolonged
and enthusiastic cheering.]
At the conclusion of the President's address the great assemblage
began calling for Postmaster-General Wanamaker. After a few moments'
hesitation the distinguished Philadelphian came forward and was the
recipient of an ovation. He said:
_Fellow-countrymen_--I am proud to be present at this magnificent
demonstration. I am especially pleased at the address the President
has delivered. Instead of having it printed for Congress he has
reserved it for the people of Oregon, and personally brought you his
message. [Cheers.] What you have done to-day has certainly touched
his heart; and no man would be human who did not feel moved at this
wonderful welcome that you have prepared for your President. I think
you had him in mind all the time, and wanted to show that your loyalty
and affection would wash. [Laughter and cheers.]
I am proud to be an American citizen, and to see how the people
rally round the flag and the chief standard-bearer, the President of
the United States. [Cheers.] From the day he started from home his
pathway has been strewn with garlands, and many times our way has lain
through a path knee-deep with flowers. They have been scattered all
the way from Virginia to Oregon; but above all is the hearty, loving,
loyal welcome that has been extended to us at every stop we have made.
On the boundary of your State, at the little town of Salem [laughter],
I think, a welcome was spoken most beautifully and heartily by your
Governor. [Tremendous cheering.] But you have about 60,000 majority
over Salem. [Cheers.]
How can any one thank you for it except to go back to Washington and
do the very best in his power for your good and the good of the whole
people? Some of us Eastern people are doing now what Columbus did 400
years ago--we are discovering America. [Cheers.] If what you have done
for us here to-night and what you have done to-day is a true index to
your energy and determination, what is there you will not grasp and do
when you get at it? [Cheers.] I am sure you will find one opportunity
in aiding in the postal telegraph. We are going to have penny postage
all the country over. [Cheers.] But before that time comes let us go
out into the new States as the villages and hamlets build up and let
us give them the mail with the freest intercourse and the fullest
facility. I will now make way for the next man, for the largest
Secretary of all is still to come. [Cheers and laughter.]
Secretary Rusk also received a hearty welcome. His remarks about the
Weather Bureau had a peculiar zest because of the presence of Gen. A. W.
Greely, chief signal officer. He said:
_Ladies and Gentlemen_--It is with great pleasure that I meet you
here to-night. I would not have a heart if I did not say that I have
been touched by this demonstration and the demonstration on your
streets to-day. [Cheers.] I account for this in a different way from
those who have preceded me. I saw on your streets to-day more ladies
than I saw in any city which we have visited since we left Washington.
And the beautiful children! While we have had more flowers in other
States, we have not met more beautiful women and lovely children. I
tell you, in order to raise anything sweetly and beautifully you must
have rain. [Cheers.] Congress has passed a law providing that the
Weather Bureau be turned over to me July 1, and if I can control the
weather and another President comes here I will see that you have a
flood. [Cheers and laughter.] I will endeavor, however, after July 1
to give you thirteen months' rain every year. I have been touched to
the heart in many ways since I came to your beautiful city. I have
met friends who were my boyhood's friends away back in Wisconsin, and
comrades who served with me in battle and in camp. [Cheers.] I would
fail to do my duty if I did not say that I am glad to see you all.
God bless them and may the future deal kindly with you all. [Great
cheering.]
CENTRALIA, WASHINGTON, MAY 6.
Early on the morning of the 6th the presidential train crossed the
State line and entered the new State of Washington, stopping a moment
at Chehalis, and reaching Centralia at 7 o'clock. Here the President
was received with a national salute, and notwithstanding the rain
several thousand people were present. Mayor D. B. Rees and the following
prominent residents welcomed the Chief Magistrate: J. H. Corwin, H. J.
Miller, W. H. Bachtall, H. L. Meade, Geo. Miller, E. R. Butherworth,
Charles Johnson, Henry Shield, N. B. Kelsey, A. J. Wright, and Geo. H.
Ellsbury.
The President said: