part of the Administration at Washington to secure larger foreign
markets for our farm products. I rejoice that in the last two years
some of those obstructions which hindered the free access of our
meat products to American markets have been removed. I rejoice to
know that we have now freer, larger access for our meats to the
markets of England and of Europe than we have had in many years.
[Applause.] I rejoice to know that this has brought better prices to
the stock-raisers of these great western valleys. I believe, under the
provision looking to reciprocal trade in the law of the last Congress,
that we shall open yet larger and nearer markets for the products of
Nebraska farmers. [Cheers.] So distant as you are from the Atlantic
seaboard, it may have seemed to you that your interest in the revival
of our trade, in the re-establishment of an American merchant marine,
was not perceptible or direct.
Not long since an inquiry was made as to the origin of the freight
that was carried by one of the Brazilian steamers from the port of New
York, and it was found that twenty-five States had made contribution
to that cargo, and among those States was the State of Nebraska.
[Cheers.] And so by such methods as we can it is our purpose to
enlarge our foreign markets for the surplus productions of our great
country. And we hope--and we think this hope fills the great West as
well as the East--that when this increased traffic and commerce is
found upon the sea it shall be carried in American bottoms. [Cheers.]
A few days ago, sailing in the harbor of San Francisco, I saw three
great deep-water ships enter the Golden Gate. One carried the flag of
Hawaii and two the British flag, and at Portland they took the pains
to tow up from the lower harbor and to deck in bunting an American
ship that was lying in the harbor. It was a curious sight--one they
thought important to exhibit to strangers visiting that city. Why,
my countrymen, I hope the day is not far distant when the sight of
great American ships flying the Stars and Stripes at the fore will be
familiar not only in our own ports, but in every busy mart of commerce
the world around. [Cheers.]
This Government of ours cannot do everything for everybody. The
theory of our Government is large individual liberty. It is that we
shall take out of the way all legislative obstructions to the free and
honest pursuit of all human industries; that each individual shall in
his own place have the best chance possible to develop the highest
prosperity for himself and his family.
Some functions are lodged with our Government. It must provide a
currency for the use of our people, for I believe the time has gone
by when we will be content to return to the old system of an issue
of money by State banks. But I will not discuss such questions. I
only desire to say this--which is common ground upon which we can all
stand--that whatever money the Government issues, paper or coin, must
be good money. [Cheers.]
I have an idea that every dollar we issue should be as good as any
dollar we issue, for, my countrymen, whenever we have any money, paper
or coin, the first errand that dollar does is to pay some workingman
for his daily toil. No one so much as the laboring man and the farmer
requires a full value dollar of permanent value the year around.
[Cheers.]
But, my countrymen, I had not intended to speak so long. I hope
I have not intruded upon any ground of division. I am talking, not
as a partisan, but as an American citizen, desiring by every method
to enhance the prosperity of all our people; to have this great
Government in all that it undertakes touch with beneficence and equal
hands the pursuits of the rich and of the poor. [Cheers.] Nothing
has been so impressive in all this journey as the magnificent spirit
of patriotism which pervades our people. I have seen enough American
flags to wrap the world around. [Great applause and cheers.]
The school children have waved it joyously to us, and many a time
in some lonesome country home on the bleak sand I have seen a man or
woman or a little boy come to the door of a cabin as we hurried by
waving the starry banner in greeting to our train. I am sure, as your
Mayor has said, that this same magnificent, patriotic, American spirit
pervades you all here to-day.
God bless you all; prosper you in every endeavor; give glory and
increase to your city, and settle all its institutions upon a secure
basis of social order and obedience to the law. [Great cheering.]
_At the High-School Grounds._
On concluding the formal reception the President and his party became
the guests of Hon. E. Rosewater, editor and proprietor of the Omaha
_Daily Bee_, and after inspecting the editorial rooms the President held
a reception in the rotunda of the _Bee_ building. This was followed
by a ride over the city, escorted by the Reception Committee. As the
_cortége_ passed the High-School grounds 20,000 children and adults gave
the President a most patriotic greeting.
Halting in front of the building, the President arose in his carriage
and said:
It gives me great pleasure to receive this cordial greeting from
the teachers and pupils of the Omaha public schools. The most
pleasant features of this journey have been the beautiful and cordial
receptions given us by the school children. I am pleased to notice the
magnificent system of schools you have here in Omaha--part of a system
that had its origin in New England and now extends over this entire
country, the mainstay of this great Government. A number of years ago
I was standing upon the banks of the headwaters of the Missouri River,
where its waters are pure and limpid, but after passing through the
bad lands of Dakota the waters of the mighty river become contaminated
and impure, as you see it rolling by your beautiful city. Let me hope
that none of you, my little friends, will ever become tainted by
contact with the bad lands of experience as you journey through life
on to manhood and womanhood. God bless you all; good-by.
At the conclusion of these remarks General Harrison was apprised that
a mistake had been made in halting at the entrance, as the children
were unable to either hear or see him. Upon learning this the President
immediately alighted and made his way with some difficulty to the
platform, where he addressed the children, saying:
_My Little Friends_--You do not feel half as badly as I do at the
thought that I made my speech intended for you to your papas and
mammas. I have not the time to attempt to repeat it, but I can't get
away without telling you of the affectionate interest I have in all
the children of this great country. Bless you--you are the blossoms of
our homes. With a good-by and another God bless you I am off. [Great
cheering.]
COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA, MAY 13.
A short stop was made at Council Bluffs, where several thousand people
greeted the party. Owing to the brief time allowed by the schedule no
committees were appointed, but the veterans of Abe Lincoln Post, G. A.
R., Dr. F. S. Thomas Commander, greeted the party. Hon. Joseph R. Reed
made a brief welcoming address.
The President, responding, said:
_My Friends_--It gives me great pleasure to thank you for this
cordial greeting as we cross the river. I was not anticipating a
meeting here or any call for an address. I see about me some of my old
comrades of the Grand Army of the Republic, and I want to give them a
comrade's greeting. I have seen them everywhere; even out on the sands
of Arizona I found them gathered together, and it has always been a
pleasure to meet them. [Cheers.]
SHENANDOAH, IOWA, MAY 13.
The town of Shenandoah was illuminated in honor of the President's
visit. The travellers were welcomed by Mayor H. S. Nichols, Hon.
Benjamin Todd, C. M. Conway, W. H. Harrison, R. W. Morse, C. S. Keenan,
Capt. C. V. Mount, and the veterans of Burnside Post, G. A. R.,
commanded by C. P. Coleneous.
The President, responding to cheers from the large crowd, said:
_My Friends_--It gives me great pleasure to see you and to receive
from you this hearty greeting. Our schedule is so close that we can
tarry only a moment with you, and therefore I can only say thank you
and good-by. [Cheers.]
MARYVILLE, MISSOURI, MAY 13.
It was 11 P.M. when the train made its first stop in Missouri, at
Maryville, where an unusually large crowd greeted the President.
The welcoming committee consisted of Judge Lafayette Dawson, Ira K.
Alderman, James Todd, W. C. Pierce, H. E. Robinson, and Lyman Parcher.
When the cheering subsided President Harrison said:
_My Friends_--This multitude is a great surprise. I have already
spoken six or seven times to-day, and am very much fatigued, so that
I shall not attempt to speak. Indeed, my time is so close that I can
tarry but a moment. But I would be untrue to myself if I did not
acknowledge this most magnificent demonstration. I thank you most
sincerely for your kindness and bid you good-night.
HANNIBAL, MISSOURI, MAY 14.
About the earliest reception on the great journey occurred at Hannibal,
which was reached at 5:30 the morning of the 14th. Notwithstanding
the hour, 5,000 people gave the President an enthusiastic welcome.
Secretary Rusk and Postmaster-General Wanamaker appeared on the platform
with General Harrison. The Reception Committee comprised Capt. John E.
Catlett, C. P. Heywood, J. J. Kirkland, Smith Alexander, Lewis Jackson,
W. H. Dulany, Edward Price, S. J. Miller, James C. Gill, J. H. McVeigh,
John T. Leighter, J. H. Pelhem, W. E. Chamberlain, J. H. Boughton,
Thomas H. Bacon, G. O. Bishop, S. W. Philips, and W. F. Drescher. The
veterans of W. T. Sherman Post, G. A. R., W. H. Davis Commander, and
several hundred school children were conspicuous in the reception.
President Harrison spoke as follows:
_My Fellow-citizens_--I have only time to assure you that I
appreciate very highly this evidence of your respect. We have
extended our journey to the Pacific coast: we have crossed the sandy
plain, where for days together the eye saw little to refresh it,
where the green of the blue grass that is so restful to the eye was
wanting, and yet again and again at some lone station in the desert
a few children from a school and some of the enterprising people who
had pushed out there to make new homes assembled with this old banner
in their hands and gave us a hearty American welcome. I am glad to
return to this central body of States in which I was raised; glad
to be again in the land of the buckeye, the beech, and the maple.
To these dear children I want to say one word of thanks. They have
done for us much on this journey to make it pleasant; their bright
faces have cheered us; I love to see them. The care the States are
taking for their education is wisely bestowed. God bless them all;
open to their feet pleasant ways and qualify them better than we have
been in our generation to uphold and perpetuate these magnificent
civil institutions. Thanking you most sincerely for this kindly
demonstration I bid you good-by. [Great cheers.]
SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS, MAY 14.
_At the Tomb of Lincoln._
Brief stops were made at Barry, Baylis, Griggsville, and Jacksonville,
but not long enough for speech-making. Thousands of visitors from
neighboring towns helped the people of Springfield welcome the President
on his arrival at 9:15 o'clock. The Committee of Reception that met the
presidential party and escorted them through the principal streets to
the Lincoln Monument in Oak Ridge Cemetery consisted of the Hon. Joseph
W. Fifer, Governor of Illinois; Senator Shelby M. Cullum, Senator John
M. Palmer, ex-Governor Oglesby, Representatives Henderson and Springer,
Lieut.-Gov. L. B. Ray, Secretary of State J. N. Pearson, Auditor
of State C. W. Pavey, Treasurer of State E. S. Wilson, Atty.-Gen.
George Hunt, Adjt-Gen. J. W. Vance, Hon. Rheuna D. Lawrence, Mayor of
Springfield, and Hon. James C. Conkling; also, Hon. John M. Clark and
Col. E. D. Swain, of Chicago.
The procession, composed of Illinois National Guards, veterans of the
G. A. R., Sons of Veterans, Knights of Pythias, and the City Fire
Department, was marshalled by Gen. Jasper N. Reese, assisted by Col.
J. H. Barkley. During the exercises at the monument Mayor Lawrence
presided. Governor Fifer delivered an eloquent address of welcome, to
which the President made the following response:
_Governor Fifer and Fellow-citizens_--During this extended journey,
in the course of which we have swept from the Atlantic coast to the
Golden Gate, and northward to the limits of our territory, we have
stood in many spots of interest and looked upon scenes that were full
of historical associations and of national interest and inspiration.
The interest of this journey culminates to-day as we stand here for
a few moments about the tomb of Lincoln. As I passed through the
Southern States and noticed those great centres of busy industry which
had been builded since the war, as I saw how the fires of furnaces had
been kindled where there was once a solitude, I could not then but
think and say that it was the hand that now lies beneath these stones
that kindled and inspired all that we beheld; all these fires of
industry were lighted at the funeral pyre of slavery. The proclamation
of Abraham Lincoln can be read on all those mountain sides where free
men are now bending their energies to the development of States that
had long been under the paralysis of human slavery.
I come to-day to this consecrated and sacred spot with a heart
filled with emotions of gratitude that that God who wisely turned
toward our Eastern shores a body of God-fearing and liberty-loving men
to found this republic did not fail to find for us in the hour of our
extremity one who was competent to lead the hearts and sympathies and
hold up the courage of our people in the time of our greatest national
peril.
The life of Abraham Lincoln teaches more useful lessons than any
other character in American history. Washington stands remote from us.
We think of him as dignified and reserved, but we think of Lincoln
as one whose tender touch the children, the poor--all classes of our
people--felt at their firesides and loved. The love of our people
is drawn to him because he had such a great heart--such a human
heart. The asperities and hardships of his early life did not dull,
but broadened and enlivened, his sympathies. That sense of justice,
that love of human liberty which dominated all his life, is another
characteristic that our people will always love. You have here in
keeping a most precious trust. Toward this spot the feet of the
reverent patriots of the years to come will bend their way. As the
story of Lincoln's life is read his virtues will mould and inspire
many lives.
I have studied it and have been filled with wonder and admiration.
His life was an American product; no other soil could have produced
it. The greatness of it has not yet been fully discovered or measured.
As the inner history of the times in which he lived is written we find
how his great mind turned and moved, in time of peril and delicacy,
the affairs of our country in their home and foreign relations with
that marvellous tact, with that never-failing common-sense which
characterized this man of the people. And that impressive lesson we
have here this morning. I see in the military uniform of our country,
standing as guards about this tomb, the sons of a race that had been
condemned to slavery and was emancipated by his immortal proclamation.
And what an appropriate thing it is that these whose civil rights were
curtailed even in this State are now the trusted, affectionate guards
of the tomb in which he sleeps!
We will all again and again read the story of Lincoln's life, and
will find our hearts and minds enlarged, our loves and our charities
broadened, and our devotion to the Constitution, the flag, and the
free Government which he preserved to us, intensified. And now,
my friends, most cordially do I thank you for these kind words of
welcome. I shall go from this tomb impressed with new thoughts as to
the responsibilities of those who bear the responsibilities, though in
less troublous times, of that great man to whose memory my soul bows
this morning. [Applause.]
_At the State House._
When the President closed he was presented by Governor Fifer, on
behalf of the citizens of Petersburg, Ill., with a gold-headed cane
made from the Lincoln store building at New Salem. Speeches were made
by Postmaster-General Wanamaker and Secretary Rusk, during which the
President and Governor Fifer proceeded to the State House, where a large
crowd collected and the President made the following address:
_My Fellow-citizens_--I feel that we make a very poor return to you
here for your cordial welcome, and for these extensive preparations
which you have made to do us honor, but this journey has been so
long, the time consumed already so great, the demand for my presence
in Washington is such that I cannot protract the stay here with you
this morning. I beg all to believe that most heartily and sincerely I
thank you for this cordial welcome from Illinois, for the interesting
moments that we have spent about the tomb of that man who would have
made the fame of Illinois imperishable and Springfield the Mecca for
patriotic feet if no other man in the history of the State had ever
come to eminence--Abraham Lincoln. [Cheers.] In his life you have a
treasury of instruction for your children, a spring of inspiration for
your people that will be lasting. [Cheers.]
DECATUR, ILLINOIS, MAY 14.
Decatur tendered the President an enthusiastic greeting. Ten
thousand citizens and school children participated in the welcoming
demonstrations. The Committee of Reception consisted of Mayor Chambers,
Hon. S. S. Jack, Hon. W. C. Johns, Dr. John T. Hubbard, Dr. William
A. Barnes, W. H. Bramble, Maj. F. L. Hays, M. F. Kanan, Mrs. W. B.
Chambers, Mrs. J. M. Clokey, Mrs. W. F. Calhoun, and Miss Belle Burrows.
Hon. J. H. Rowell, of Bloomington, was also a member of the committee.
In response to Mayor Chambers' welcoming address President Harrison said:
_Mr. Mayor and Fellow-citizens_--We have been now something
more than four weeks traversing this broad and beautiful domain
which, without regard to State lines, we call our country. We have
passed with such rapidity that our intercourse with the people has
necessarily been brief and attended by many inconveniences to them.
Everything that kind hearts could do to make the trip pleasant to us
has been done, and yet I have always felt that our hasty call at these
prosperous cities where so much pains have been taken in decoration
to do honor to us gives us opportunity to make very inadequate
returns to them. We have been shooting like a meteor as to rapidity,
but without its luminosity. [Laughter.] It is very pleasant after
seeing California, Arizona, Idaho, and Colorado, States in which the
annual rainfall is inadequate to the annual crops, and where the
dependence of the husbandman is wholly upon irrigation, to come again
in these Central States, familiar to me from my boyhood, to see crops
that the Lord waters in every season. The land of the blue grass is
the land of my love. Nowhere can there be seen fairer landscapes,
nowhere richer farms, than here in your own great State of Illinois,
a State whose history has been full of illustrious achievements, rich
in possibilities, where lived our illustrious sons; a State whose
population is intelligent, contented, orderly, and liberty-loving; a
State whose development has not yet begun to approach its possible
limits; a State having advantages by the location, swept as it is by
two of the great waterways of the continent, advantages of access
and markets by lake and rail and river unexcelled by any State in
the Union; a State that has not forgotten that the permanence of
our free institutions depends upon the intelligence of the people,
and has carefully, at the very beginning, laid a foundation for a
common-school system in which every man's child may have a free
education. [Cheers.] These are not simply schools of intelligence,
but, as I have said before, they are schools of statesmanship. They
tend as much as any other public institution to make our people a
Nation of loving people. Here on these benches and on this playground
the people of rich and poor mingle together, and the pampered son gets
his airs rubbed off with the vigor of his playmates. ["That's so!"
and cheers.] Our Government does not undertake to regulate many of
the affairs of civil life. The bright blue sky of hope is above every
boy's head, affording great opportunities for advancement, and then
our people are left to themselves. Certain great duties are devolved
upon the Government--to provide revenue and finance and in every
branch of public interest to legislate in the general interests of all
the people. I thank you most heartily for this great demonstration. We
leave you with our thanks, our best wishes for your State, your city,
and especially for these dear little ones from your schools who come
to greet us. [Applause.]
TUSCOLA, ILLINOIS, MAY 14.
At Tuscola another large assemblage greeted the travellers most
enthusiastically. The Committee of Reception consisted of Mayor Patrick
C. Sloan, A. W. Wallace, J. J. Knox, Frank Pearce, Dr. S. V. Ramsey, O.
H. Sloan, Hans Heurichs, A. C. Sluss, J. W. King, P. M. Moore, D. A.
Conover, and Col. W. Taggart.
In response to a hasty but cordial welcome from Mayor Sloan the
President said:
_My Fellow-citizens_--It is very kind of you to assemble here in
such large numbers to extend to us a greeting as we hurry through your
beautiful State. We can tarry with you but for a moment, for we are in
true sense pilgrims. It is pleasant to look in your faces and to read
there the same kindly thoughts and the same friendliness that seems
to have covered this whole land as we have journeyed through it. I do
not like to say anything anywhere that makes a line of division; for I
know that these assemblages are without regard to politics, and that
men of all parties have extended to us a cordial greeting. The flag,
the institutions, and the general good of our people are themes which
we appreciate, are themes which we honor, though we may approach them
on different lines. I am glad to notice as I journey through your
State the evidences of a coming harvest that I hope will be bountiful.
Wishing for you every good, I bid you good-by. [Cheers.]
CHRISMAN, ILLINOIS, MAY 14.
At Chrisman the President met with another hearty welcome. More than
6,000 people were present, many coming from Paris, Danville, and other
neighboring points. The Reception Committee consisted of J. F. Van
Voorhees, C. E. Kenton, C. A. Smith, and Revs. Wiley and Wilkin. Kenesaw
Post, G. A. R., of Paris, Ill., J. M. Moody Commander, and a number of
veterans from Ridge Farm were present.
Mr. Van Voorhees introduced the President, who spoke as follows:
_My Friends_--I have but one message for all these vast assemblies
of my fellow-citizens who have been greeting us for something more
than a month at every point where we have stopped. That message is
to thank you for all these greetings and for the friendliness which
shines in your faces. I am glad this is a Government by the people,
because they are the most capable governors that can be found. No
man can traverse this country, as I have done, from the Potomac to
the Golden Gate and from the Golden Gate to the cities that open on
Puget Sound, to the great North Sea, and can look into the faces
of these people that come from every pursuit, without feeling that
this Government, raised upon the bulwark of patriotism, is, by God's
goodness, a perpetual institution. The patriotism of our people, their
unselfish love for the flag, the great good-nature with which they lay
aside all sharp party divisions and come together under one banner,
is very gratifying to us all. Our trip has been attended by many
incidents that have been full of pleasure and sometimes full of pathos.
We have never lost sight of the flag in all this journey. Sometimes
out on the Great American Desert, as it used to be called, where
nothing but the sage brush gave evidence of the power of nature to
clothe the earth, from a little dug-out, where some man had set out to
make a home for himself, would float the starry banner. [Cheers.]