Accepting the Republican nomination for Governor, at the State
Convention, July 8, 1886.
MR. CHAIRMAN, AND GENTLEMEN OF THE CONVENTION: Two years ago the
Republican State Convention conferred upon me the unprecedented honor of
a nomination by acclamation for the office of Governor. To-day, by the
generous confidence of the people you represent, and your own kindness
and partiality, I have been accorded the equally unprecedented honor of
a unanimous renomination.
How proud I am of this confidence and regard, and how grateful I am to
you, and to the constituencies you severally represent, language cannot
express. The honor thus done me is far above and beyond my deserving. I
realize this fact, humbly and forcibly. But from the bottom of my heart
I thank you, one and all, and I beg you to bear back to your homes, and
to those you represent, the assurance of my profound appreciation and
unspeakable gratitude.
I entered upon the discharge of the duties of the executive office a
year and a half ago, without previous training or experience. My
distrust of my fitness for such responsibilities was keen. But my trust
in the kindness and generosity of the people of Kansas, among whom all
the years of my manhood had been passed, and with whose hopes and fears,
triumphs and disappointments, I had sympathized for nearly thirty years,
was confident and unbounded. This trust has sustained me through all the
lights and shadows of my official life; it abides with me to-day in the
presence of this great convention of earnest and intelligent
Republicans, whose generous approbation warms and stirs every pulsation
of my heart; and it will go with me in the future, whatsoever the
embarrassments, failures or successes of my life shall be.
I have no doubt that in the discharge of my official duties I have made
mistakes. No human judgment is infallible, nor can any man expect that
all will recognize the reasons which, to him, seem to mark out clearly
the line of action and of duty. It has happened, too, that my official
life as Chief Executive of this State has been crowded thick with
perplexities and difficulties, and I could not hope, amid such
surroundings, to avoid errors or escape criticisms. If I have, on the
one hand, made mistakes, I have not, on the other, complained of just
and fair disagreement or disapproval, nor have I, when my own judgment
and conscience approved my actions, cowered or quailed before criticism
or clamor. And my experience has, I trust, broadened the horizon of my
views, as it has certainly strengthened my faith in the just judgment of
a generous and intelligent people.
One thing I can confidently assert here in your presence. That is, that
I have steadily endeavored to deserve the respect and regard of the
people of Kansas. I have never cared—I never shall care—whether any
person eulogizes my official life as brilliant or distinguished, so that
all good citizens shall say that it was clean, just, safe, honest, and
industrious. This is the only praise I hope to deserve or seek to win;
this is the aim and end of my ambition.
I come before a Republican State Convention as a candidate for office,
for the last time. I recognize the propriety and justice of the
sentiment which forbids a Governor to aspire to a third term, and if, by
the confidence, partiality and generosity of the people of Kansas, I
shall be again elected to the office I now hold, I shall, at the close
of my term, gladly return to the work and duty abandoned at their call,
and as a private citizen will continue to labor for the success of the
glorious party you represent, and to advance the interests of this
imperial commonwealth.
The controversies, rivalries and jealousies that are inevitable in an
assemblage of this character, are soon forgotten by all who have any
honest faith in or real devotion to the principles and policies of the
Republican party. Far above and far beyond any mere personal ambition,
or the gratification of any individual interest, are the ideas and
principles which have bound together, for more than thirty years, the
greatest, purest and most patriotic organization of intelligent people
ever known in this or any other land; an organization which found this
Republic a collection of discordant States, and has made it a great
Nation; which has exalted the American name in every civilized country
in the world; which has enriched our history with deeds and names that
will inspire youth and exalt manhood during all the centuries to come;
which has never been ashamed or afraid to espouse the cause of the poor,
the weak, the alien or the ignorant, and make their wrongs its own;
which to-day stands for all that makes American homes sober, happy and
pure, American industry prosperous and hopeful, and all who live beneath
our flag secure and free; and which can be depended upon, in the future,
to protect the interests of all classes of the people against the
aggressions of corporate power.
I have read the platform you have adopted. It is a notable declaration
of just principles and honest purposes. My judgment approves it, my
heart indorses it, and I pledge you, here and now, that whatsoever I can
do to give vitality to your declarations will be cheerfully, honestly
and faithfully done.
I will not, gentlemen of the convention, trespass further on your time.
You have duties to discharge, and you desire to give them your
attention. I trust your deliberations will be pleasant and harmonious. I
thank you, sincerely and gratefully, for the distinguished honor of your
confidence, and wish you to express to those you represent my deep
appreciation of, and thankfulness for, their constant and unfailing
support. May peace, happiness and prosperity abide in your homes and
theirs, and may that order, security and contentment which a
law-respecting, sober and intelligent people can justly expect to enjoy,
be the common heritage of all the people of this great commonwealth.