in the morning. I can count among my pleasantest experiences in the
Northwest this very early rising. I am a good deal of a Daniel Webster
as to early risings. [Laughter.] It gives me great pleasure to notice
the evidence of increased population as contrasted with what I saw
six years ago as I passed through this country. I was so unfortunate
then as to find it enveloped in smoke, so that the mountain tops were
invisible. I am afraid we are to have this experience repeated on this
visit on account of the fog. I suppose this is because the beauties
of your country are so great that they have to be shaded to the eyes
of a stranger. Seriously, however, you have a great commonwealth.
I do not doubt that your future is to be one of great development
and great increase in population, and that you are to found here a
very contented, prosperous, and happy people. Fortunately you have a
capacity for great agricultural development after you have cleared
away the forests; and that, after all, is the permanent foundation
of every American city. It is well enough to have trees on the land
and mines in the earth; but trees will be cut down and mines be dug
out, and the only thing that lasts is good soil in the hands of good
husbandmen. I thank you most sincerely. [Cheers.]
TACOMA, WASHINGTON, MAY 6.
Ten thousand cheers greeted the arrival of the President at Tacoma
Wednesday morning. Gov. Elisha P. Ferry, Mayor Geo. B. Kandle, and
Judge Wm. H. Calkins, at the head of the following Committee of
Reception, met the party: Gen. John W. Sprague, Samuel Collyer, Colonel
Garretson, Judge Allyn, Hon. M. Hill, Mrs. Frank Allyn, W. D. Tyler,
Mrs. Derrickson, Thomas Carroll, Dr. Munson, Judge John Beverly, Judge
Applegate, H. C. Wallace, Senator John B. Allen and wife, Mrs. Galusha
Parsons, Charles Hale, George Reed, Charles Catlin, S. C. Slaughter,
Thomas Sloane, L. E. Post, Nelson Bennett, F. F. Jacobs, I. W. Anderson,
A. C. Mason, C. W. Griggs, G. W. Holmes, E. M. Hunt, John D. Hills, L.
R. Manning, Hon. Thomas Carroll, Col. Charles Reichenbach, Atty.-Gen.
Jones, State Treasurer Lindsley, J. D. Hogue, C. B. Zabriskie, and Fred
T. Taylor.
The decorations were upon an elaborate scale. Chief among the
attractions of this order were five mammoth arches spanning Pacific
Avenue, constructed from products typifying the principal industries of
the State, to wit: the timber arch, coal arch, iron arch, grain arch,
and shingle arch. Notwithstanding the rain the parade, under Chief
Marshal C. W. Griggs, was a brilliant success.
A noteworthy incident was the special reception tendered to Mrs.
Harrison and the other ladies of the presidential party by the ladies of
Tacoma at the Opera House. Fully 5,000 paid their respects. Mrs. S. C.
Slaughter, on behalf of the ladies of Tacoma, presented to Mrs. Harrison
a beautiful painting of Mt. Tacoma by the artist Rollins. Accompanying
the picture was an illustrated copy of Mrs. Bernice E. Wewell's poem on
"Mt. Tacoma," also a gold engraved spoon, the latter for the President's
grandson. In acknowledging the receipt of these souvenirs Mrs. Harrison
made perhaps her first public speech on the trip. She said:
_Ladies_--I cannot thank you enough for all your kindness. I shall
take your gifts home and treasure them all my life as mementos of a
most enjoyable visit to your beautiful city. [Applause.]
After the review of the procession Governor Ferry, in the presence of
many thousands, formally welcomed President Harrison to the State of
Washington. The distinguished veteran General Sprague made the address
on behalf of the citizens of Tacoma.
The President responded as follows:
_My Fellow-citizens_--I feel that it would be cruel to prolong
this exposure which you are enduring in the inclement weather of the
day. I visited your city and the region of Puget Sound six years
ago. I found this country then enveloped in smoke, so that these
grand mountain-tops, of which mention has been made in the address
of welcome, were hidden from our view. I come again and the smoke is
replaced by fog, and we are still, I suppose, to take the existence of
these snow-clad peaks on faith. [Laughter and applause.] I don't know
but there is a benevolent provision for your comfort in the fact that
this magnificent scenery, this unmatched body of water are frequently
hidden from the eye of the traveller. If every one who journeys hither
could see it all everybody would want to live here, and there wouldn't
be room. [Laughter and cheers.] I congratulate you, citizens of
Tacoma, upon the magnificent, almost magical, transformation which has
been wrought here in these six years since I first saw your city. It
has been amazing: it is a tribute to the energy and the enterprise and
courage of your people that will endure and increase and attract in a
yet higher degree the attention of the whole country.
A harbor like this, so safe and commodious and deep, upon Puget
Sound, should be made to bear a commerce that is but yet in its
infancy. I would like to see the prows of some of these great
steamship lines entering your ports and carrying the American flag
at the masthead. [Cheers.] I believe we have come to the time in our
development as a people when we must step forward with bold progress,
or we will lose the advantage we have already attained. We have within
ourselves the resources, and a market of which the world is envious.
We have been content, in the years gone by, to allow other nations
to do the carrying trade of the world. We have been content to see
the markets of these American republics lying south of us mastered
and controlled by European nations. I think the period of discontent
with these things has now come to our people, and I believe the time
is auspicious for the enlargement of our commerce with these friendly
republics lying to the south of us. I believe the time is propitious
for re-establishing upon the sea the American merchant marine, that
shall do its share of the carrying trade of the world. [Applause.]
My friends, I desire to again express to you my regret that to give
us this magnificent welcome, under circumstances so inauspicious, you
have been exposed to so much wet. I especially regretted, as I passed
those long lines of dear school children, that they should have been
exposed in order to do us honor. I will not detain you longer. For
your city, for this magnificent young State that we have received
into the great sisterhood of the Union, of which you are a glorious
part, we give our aspirations, our prayers, and our best endeavors.
[Applause.]
_On Steamer "City of Seattle," Puget Sound._
At 11:30 A.M. the President and his party left Tacoma, embarking on the
steamer _City of Seattle_ for the Queen City of the Northwest. There
was a great outpouring at Tacoma to witness the departure, and the
presidential convoy was escorted down the sound by all the steamers in
the bay. As the President came aboard he was met by Mayor and Mrs. Harry
White at the head of the following committee of prominent citizens of
Seattle: Jacob Furth, John H. McGraw, A. W. Bash, Postmaster Griffith
Davies, A. M. Brookes, A. A. Denny, L. S. J. Hunt, W. E. Bailey, F. J.
Grant, President and Mrs. G. W. Hall, President and Mrs. R. W. Jones,
Maj. J. R. Hayden, Mr. and Mrs. E. Brainerd, Mrs. George H. Heilbron,
Mrs. J. C. Haines, Mrs. R. C. Washburn, Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Holman, Mrs.
E. L. Terry, Mrs. J. F. McNaught, Mrs. A. B. Stewart, Mrs. James A.
Panting, Mrs. H. F. Jackson and daughter, Mrs. Charles F. Jackson, Mr.
and Mrs. W. R. Bentley, Miss Ina Jameson, Miss Annie Longfellow, Miss
Millie Longfellow, Walter F. Cushing, Col. G. G. Lyon, Dr. Young, D. B.
Ward, Colonel Langley, J. T. Ronald, John Wiley, C. M. Ogden, Colonel
Street, Judge Roger S. Greene, Mr. John Collins, Capt. W. A. Snyder,
ex-Atty.-Gen. J. B. Metcalfe, Lieut. A. B. Wyckoff, and Dr. Whyte
Fredrick.
When the convoy and her noisy consorts had passed out of Commencement
Bay and entered Puget Sound the Reception Committee assembled on deck,
and Mayor White in an address cordially welcomed the President, who, in
response, said:
_Mr. Mayor_--I accept with great gratification these words of
welcome on behalf of the citizens of Seattle. It will give me great
pleasure to contrast my observations of your State in 1885 with what
I shall see to-day. I have not lost track of the progress of Seattle,
but have, through friends, been advised of the marvellous development
which you have made, and how you have repeated in the substantial
character of your edifices the story of the Chicago fire, coming as
you have out of what seemed a disaster with increased magnificence,
and finding in it really an advantage. I will defer until I am in the
presence of your people any further acknowledgment of your courtesies,
and will now only thank you, as you are repeating here what we have
observed on our whole trip, namely, the unification of all our people
and the absolute oneness of sentiment in devotion to our institutions
and the flag.
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, MAY 6.
The steamer bearing the presidential party, followed by a great flotilla
that had come out to greet them, arrived at Seattle at 1:30 P.M., and
fully 40,000 people witnessed the disembarking. The city was profusely
decorated. On Pioneer Place stood a triumphal arch bearing the ensigns
of all nations. Ranged at its entrance were the Sons of Veterans in
uniform and 75 school-girls. As the President's carriage entered the
great arch the choir-girls greeted him with a song of welcome, composed
for the occasion by Prof. L. A. Darling. Near the arch, on a platform,
sat the shrivelled form of Angeline, daughter of Chief Seattle, the last
of the race of royal barbarians who once ruled in the bays and forests
of the sound. She was an object of great interest to the President
and his party. After visiting Lake Washington on the cable cars the
President was escorted to the University campus by Stevens, Miller, and
Cushing posts, G. A. R., M. M. Holmes and J. St. Clair, commanders.
Thirty thousand people were assembled on the campus; officials were
present from every part of the State, also from British Columbia.
Opposite the speakers' stand were 2,000 school children, each waving
a flag. Governor Ferry, Senator John B. Allen, Hon. John H. McGraw,
Jacob Furth, and numerous other prominent men were on the platform with
the President, Secretary Rusk, and Mr. Wanamaker. Rev. G. A. Tewksbury
pronounced the invocation. Judge Thomas Burke then delivered the
welcoming address on behalf of the citizens.
President Harrison replied:
_Judge Burke and Fellow-citizens_--I am sure you have too much
kindness in your heart to ask me to make an address to you this
afternoon. This chilly air, this drizzling rain, the long exposure
during the day which you and these precious children have suffered,
warn me, on your account as well as my own, that I should say but a
few words in recognition of this magnificent welcome. Six years ago
I visited your beautiful city, and the distinguished gentleman who
has been your spokesman to-day was one of a hospitable committee that
pointed out to me the beauties of this location. You were then largely
a prospective city. Some substantial and promising improvements
had been begun, but it was a period of expectancy rather than of
realization. I am glad to come to-day and to see how fully and
perfectly the large expectations then entertained by your enterprising
people have been realized. It is a matter of amazement to look upon
these towering substantial granite and iron structures in which the
great business of your city is transacted. That disaster, as it seemed
to you, which swept away a large portion of the business part of your
city was like the afflictions that come to the saints, a blessing in
disguise. [Cheers.] You have done what Chicago did. You have improved
the disaster by rearing structures and completing edifices that were
unthought of before. Those who were not enterprising or liberal have
been compelled to be liberal and enterprising in order that they might
realize rents for their property made vacant by fire. [Cheers.]
I fully appreciate the importance of this great body of water upon
which your city is situated. This sound, this inland sea, must be in
the future the highway, the _entrepot_, of a great commerce. I do most
sincerely believe that we are entering now upon a new development
that will put the American flag upon the seas and bring to our ports
in American bottoms a largely increased share of the commerce of
the world. [Cheers.] As I have said in other places, for one I am
thoroughly discontented with the present condition of things. We
may differ as to methods, but I believe the great patriotic heart
of our people is stirred, and that they are bent upon recovering
that share of the world's commerce which we once happily enjoyed.
Your demonstration to day under these unfavorable environments has
been most creditable to your city. We have certainly seen nothing
in a journey characterized by great demonstrations to surpass this
magnificent scene. [Cheers.] I realize what your spokesman has said,
that in all this there is a patriotic expression of the love of our
people for the flag and for the Constitution. [Cheers.] And now, my
friends, thanking you for all you have done for me, humbly confessing
my inability to repay you, pledging to you my best efforts to
promote the good of all our people, and that I will have a watchful
observation of the needs of your State, of your harbors, for defence,
improvement, and security, I bid you good by. [Cheers.]
After the President's address an effort was made to present the veterans
individually, but the inclement weather forbade it. Turning to those
about him President Harrison said:
I leave you very reluctantly, and I shall always be sorry that
my time was so limited here that I could not do justice to your
hospitality. [Great cheering.]
At 5 o'clock the party boarded their train, but a great crowd had
assembled and called repeatedly for the President, who responded and
said:
I can only thank you once more; you have given me a royal welcome,
and I carry away with me the most grateful memory of your kindness.
I was up until past midnight last night, making a speech, and had
to be up at 6 o'clock this morning to speak to some friends in
Oregon. I leave you with the best wishes for your city and the State.
[Enthusiastic cheers.]
As the President concluded there were loud calls for Postmaster-General
Wanamaker, who waved his hand toward the children and said:
The reasons given by the President for not making a speech certainly
apply to those who are in your programme to follow him. I cannot,
however, leave the platform without thanking you for that share of the
welcome that falls to us who attended. There is a chill in the air,
but there is no lack of warmth in the cordial greeting that you have
given to us who, though we felt ourselves to be strangers among you,
have found ourselves to be among friends. I have been trying to find
out since the census report was announced what the reason was that
Philadelphia had fallen behind. [Laughter and applause.] It is all
very plain to me now. This city set on a hill I shall put down in my
book as Philadelphia Junior. [Applause.] You have the family likeness.
I recognize some of you by name, and I do not wonder that you have
settled in this beautiful spot, so rich in its resources, where you
discovered everything that we have in Pennsylvania except one thing,
and I expect you will find that before long, and I am sure that I hope
that you will find the anthracite coal stored away somewhere in your
hills. I know if you undertake to find it you will do it. [Applause.]
You need no better illustration than the choir over yonder, that
could not be stopped even to allow the President to speak. [Applause
and laughter.] I shall carry away from here a story that I am afraid
they will call a California story, but I will get your Mayor to give
me a certificate that I was perfectly sober--that there was nothing
but water. [Applause and laughter.] And I shall try to recommend
what I have seen in this wild West, where people have their splendid
schools, their many churches, their refined homes, and where there is
such a hearty welcome for all that come in their midst. For my part
of the work at Washington I have already given you evidence that the
Post-office Department was thinking of the Pacific coast. I shall
do the best that I can as a business man for this splendid business
people that you have in your city and for the many more that are to
come; that all the facilities of the mail--quickening it, increasing
it--shall be given to you; that you shall not say that your Government
does not give you all the assistance in building up your great
enterprises and swelling the prosperity of all this coast. I say
good-by to you and give you a heart full of good wishes. [Continued
applause.]
PUYALLUP, WASHINGTON, MAY 6.
It was 10 P.M. when the train stopped at Puyallup, where a goodly crowd
awaited the visitors. The President shook hands with several score, and
in response to calls for a speech said:
_My Fellow-citizens_--I am very glad to see you to-night, but I am
sure you will excuse me from speaking when you remember that I have
been out in the rain all day at Tacoma and Seattle, and have had to
talk several times. I am glad to see you, and appreciate the friendly
interest you manifest in coming out here to-night in such great
numbers to greet us with such kindliness. I have known for a long time
of the great hop industry of this region, and I am glad to know that
it has proven profitable. The question of the Puyallup reservation was
one of the last which was brought officially to my attention before
leaving, and I expect it will be one of the first I shall take up on
my return. Good-night and good-by.
CHEHALIS, WASHINGTON, MAY 6.
A great crowd greeted the President with cannon and bonfires on his
arrival at Chehalis at 10:30 at night. The Committee of Reception
consisted of Mayor Milet, who delivered an address of welcome; Judge
Ashman, an old comrade of the President's at Resaca; and J. F. Sachs, an
early pioneer, who presented the President a native hawthorn cane.
Responding to greetings the President said:
_My Friends_--I am very much obliged to you for this midnight
reception. We passed you this morning without stopping, and regretted
it when we saw the number who had collected here. We gladly yielded
to your request to stop to-night in order to show our appreciation of
your kindness. It is very pleasant for me to see those people who have
no interest in politics except for good government. [Cheers.]
CASCADE LOCKS, OREGON, MAY 7.
The first stop on the morning of the 7th was at Cascade Locks, where
several hundred people gave an early morning greeting to the President,
who responded briefly, saying:
_My Friends_--I am very much obliged to you for your kindly
greeting, and, as we stop only a few moments, I can only express my
sincere thanks for your presence.
HOOD RIVER STATION, OREGON, MAY 7.
At Hood River Station the President shook hands with a number and
addressed the gathering as follows:
_My Friends_--It is very pleasant to see you this morning, and to
come out into the sunshine after two or three days of chilly rain. I
have been talking so much, and so much in the dampness, that my voice
is not very good; but my heart is always fresh and open to these
receptions. I thank you very sincerely for your friendliness and wish
for you all, and especially for these little ones, every happiness in
life. [Cheers.]
THE DALLES, OREGON, MAY 7.
After traversing the famous gorge of the Columbia River the presidential
train at 11 o'clock emerged within view of the city of The Dalles, where
an enthusiastic welcome was extended the Chief Executive. The Committee
of Reception consisted of Mayor Moody, D. M. French, Dr. William
Shackelford, J. A. Varney, R. F. Gibson, Robert Mays, H. M. Beall, John
McCaul, J. P. McInerry, M. T. Nolan, George Ruch, and the following
prominent ladies of the city: Mrs. T. S. Lang, Mrs. N. B. Sinnott,
Mrs. A. M. Williams, Mrs E. M. Wilson, Mrs. S. French, Mrs. S. Brooks,
Mrs. Geo. Liebe, Mrs. Charles Hilton, and Mrs. J. Patterson. Many old
soldiers and a large number of school children were present.
Mayor Moody, in behalf of the city, welcomed the President, who
responded as follows:
_My Friends_--I have spoken at all times of the night and all
hours of the day, and under conditions much less auspicious than
those around us this morning. We have here a bright sunshine and a
bracing air, and everything in nature adds to the gladness of this
demonstration which you have made in our honor. I most sincerely thank
you for this evidence of your friendliness. I assure you that it is
very pleasant, and I cannot but believe that it is very useful for
those who are charged with public duties at Washington occasionally to
move about a little and look into the faces of the plain, patriotic
people of the country. Most of the people who come to see me at
Washington want something, and as the provision made by law is not
adequate to meet all these wants there is very apt to be a great
deal of discontent; but when we get out among the great masses of
the people, among those who are doing the work of the farm, of the
shop, and of the office, who have a patriotic pride in their country
and its institutions, and are kindly disposed, charitable in their
judgments, and who have no other interests than that the laws shall be
faithfully executed and the whole interest of the people faithfully
looked after, we find great refreshment in their presence. I am sure
we have such an audience here this morning. You will not expect of any
officer that he will altogether avoid mistakes; you have a right to
expect a conscientious, courageous fidelity to public duty. I quite
sympathize with the suggestion of your Mayor, that it is one of the
proper Government functions to improve and to open to safe navigation
the great waterways of our country. The Government of the United
States has reserved to itself the exclusive control of all navigable
inland waters, and that being so, it is, of course, incumbent upon
the Government to see that the people have the best possible use of
them. They are important, as they furnish cheap transportation, and
touch points that are often, either for economy or natural reasons,
inaccessible to railway traffic. I thank you again for your interest
and bid you a kindly farewell. If no ill happens to you that I do not
wish, and all the good comes to you that I do wish in your behalf,
your lives will be full of pleasantness and peace. [Enthusiastic
cheers.]
PENDLETON, OREGON, MAY 7.
After leaving The Dalles the presidential party encountered a sand
storm. At 5 o'clock in the afternoon they arrived at the beautiful
city of Pendleton and were greeted by a large crowd, including several
hundred Umatilla Indians, led by Chiefs Peo and Ten-a-ow-itz. Chief Peo
made an address and said:
I am glad to greet the great father. Indian and white man are now
one family, friendly, and I give you the hand of welcome for my
people. You represent one race, I another, but we are all of one
Government, and between red man and white there should no longer be
war. My people want only peace. In behalf of my tribe I say welcome,
President.
The Committee of Reception comprised Mayor J. H. Raley, Judge J. A.
Fee, J. M. Leezer, Senator Matlock, Capt. A. L. Ewing, T. C. Taylor, W.
D. Fletcher, S. Rothchild, T. F. Rourke, R. Alexander, Lot Livermore,
Benj. S. Burroughs, H. L. Marston, T. G. Hailey, W. D. Hansford, F. W.
Vincent, Mrs. M. B. Clopton, Mrs. T. C. Taylor, and Mesdames Fee, De
Spain, and Fletcher. Mayor Raley made an address of welcome.
The President replied:
_My Fellow-citizens_--Among all the surprises that have greeted us
on our journey I do not remember any that burst upon us with more
suddenness than this beautiful sight that you have arranged for our
welcome here. Travelling for some hours through a sparsely settled
region, I did not at all anticipate that so large an assemblage could
be gathered here. I am glad to read in your faces a full confirmation
of the Mayor's words of welcome. You have a pride in the common
heritage of Government which our fathers organized for us. You honor
the flag which floats about us here. It is pleasant to meet here,
scattered over these plains of the West, so many veterans of the great
Civil War, men who came out of the army poor as they went into it,
men who did not serve their country for reward, but out of a loving
fealty to its flag and to their Government; men who asked no questions
about pay, but went with loyal hearts to battle, determined that the
flag should be maintained in its supremacy from sea to sea; men who,
returning safely from the vicissitudes of the camp and the march and
from the perils of battle, have been ever since giving their brave
endeavors to open this new country, to increase its prosperity, and
by honorable labor to make comfortable homes for themselves and their
children. I greet you to-day, comrades, with a loving heart. God grant
that these later days--for years are increasing with us all--may be
full of sunshine, full of the respect of your neighbors, full of
prosperity, and crowned at last with the full blessing of immortality.