Part 19

There are doubtless here many representatives of great American manufacturing establishments; and who should know better than they the prostrating effects upon the industries they represent of this policy of a revenue tariff, or the not much differing policy of free trade? [Cheers.] Who should know better than you that if the discriminating duties now levied, which enable our American manufacturers to maintain a fair competition with the manufacturers of other countries, and at the same time to pay a scale of living wages to the men and women who work for them, is once broken down, American competition with foreign production becomes impossible, except by the reduction of the scale of American wages to the level of the wages paid abroad? [Cheers.] Certainly you do not need to be told that that shop or mill that has the smallest pay-roll in proportion to its production will take the market. [Cheers.] Certainly you do not need to be told that the wages now enjoyed by our American workmen are greatly larger and the comforts they enjoy greatly more than those enjoyed by the working people of any other land. [Cheers.] Certainly you do not need to be told that if the American Government, instead of patronizing home industries, buys its blankets for the public service in England there is just that much less work for American workmen to do. [Cheers.] This is to me the beginning and the end of the tariff question. Since I was old enough to have opinions or to utter them, I have held to the doctrine that the true American policy was that which should maintain not only a living rate of wages, but one with a margin for savings and comfort for our workmen. I believe that policy is essential to the prosperity and possibly to the perpetuity of our Government. [Cheers.] The two propositions that now stare our working people--and our whole country--in the face are these: competition with foreign countries, without adequate discriminating and favoring duties, means lower wages to our working people; a revenue-only tariff, or progressive free trade, means larger importations of foreign goods, and that means less work in America. [Cheers.]

Let our Democratic friends fairly meet these two indisputable conclusions. How do they do it? [Cries, "They don't; they can't!"] By endeavoring to prevent and poison the minds of our working people by utterly false and scandalous campaign stories. [Enthusiastic cheering.] Let me say in conclusion that I believe the managers of the Democratic campaign greatly underestimate the intelligence, the sense of decency, and the love of fair play that prevail among out people. [Great cheering.] You will pardon further remark. The evening is drawing on, and many of you, I am sure, have been made uncomfortable by your muddy walk through the streets of our city. I cannot omit, however, to thank my friends from Lafayette for this beautiful floral tribute which they have placed at my side--an emblem of their profession. [Floral gripsack.] I accept it gratefully, and very highly appreciate it as a mark of the confidence and respect of the intelligent body of my own fellow-citizens of Indiana. [Great cheering.]

INDIANAPOLIS, OCTOBER 22.

Three thousand enthusiastic citizens of Springfield, Clarke County, Ohio, paid their respects to the Republican nominee on this date, under the auspices of the Republican White Hat Brigade, Gen. A. S. Bushnell, Commander; E. T. Thomes, Vice-Commander; S. J. Wilkerson, Chief of Staff; J. W. R. Cline, Sam'l Hoffman, and J. H. Arbogast, Aids. The brigade, comprising 2,300 voters, each wearing a white beaver hat, was divided into three regiments and accompanied by six excellent bands.

The First Regiment was commanded by Col. J. A. Dickus, Lieut.-Col. Geo. Lentz, Major Henry Harper. Second Regiment--Col. Wm. F. Bakhaus, Lieut.-Col. Darwin Pierce, Major Wm. Robinson. Third Regiment--Col. H. N. Taylor, Lieut.-Col. Henry Hains, Major P. M. Hawk. When General Harrison entered the hall every Buckeye stood on his chair and frantically waved his high hat in one hand and a flag in the other. General Bushnell made the presentation address, to which General Harrison responded as follows:

_General Bushnell and my Ohio Friends_--The people of Clarke County owed me a visit. I recall, with great pleasure, two occasions when I visited your prosperous county and the rich and busy city of Springfield to speak in behalf of the Republican party and its candidates. I recall with pleasure the cordiality with which I was received by your people. [Applause.] I noted then the intelligent interest manifested by the masses of your people in public questions, and the enthusiasm with which you rallied to the defense of Republican principles. [Cheers.] We are glad to welcome you to Indiana, but regret that this inclement day and our muddy streets have thrown about your visit so many incidents of discomfort. I hope that you will not allow these incidents to give you an unfavorable impression of the beautiful capital city of Indiana. [Cheers and cries of "We won't!"] Our people are glad to have this added evidence of the interest which the people of your State take in the question which the issue of this campaign will settle. I say settle, because I believe that the question of the life of protective tariff system is now very distinctly presented. The enemies of the system have left their ambuscades and taken to the open field, and we are to have a decisive battle over this question. [Great cheers.] I believe that never before, in any campaign, has this question been so fully and ably discussed in the hearing of our people. [Cheers.] There can be found nowhere in this country a better illustration of what a great manufacturing centre will do for the farmer in enhancing the value of his farm and in furnishing a home market for his products than the city of Springfield. [Cheers.] Your city and county--your merchants and farmers--are prosperous, because you have a great body of well-paid wage-earners in your great shops and factories. [Cheers.] It is the policy of the Republican party to multiply, all through our agricultural regions, such centres of manufacturing industries as Springfield. [Cheers.] It is conceded that to all our working people, all those who earn their subsistence by toil, this campaign involves most important interests. I will not pursue in its details this question. You have heard it discussed, and most of you, perhaps all, have made up your conclusions. It is of such importance as, wholly without respect to the candidate who may by chance represent it, to be worthy of the intelligent and earnest thought and vigorous effort of every American citizen. [Cheers.] Let me now only thank you for this most remarkable evidence of the interest of your people. We have rarely, if it all, seen here, in this long procession of delegations, one that equalled that which I see before me now. [Great cheering.]

At the conclusion of General Harrison's speech General Bushnell presented him with a highly polished horse-shoe, manufactured from American steel by S. B. Thomas, formerly an Englishman. Repeated calls for Mr. Thomas brought that gentleman out, and there was another prolonged demonstration as General Harrison cordially clasped his hand and said:

I accept with pleasure this product of the skill and industry of one who, out of his own experience, can speak of the benefits of a protective tariff. One who sought our land because it offered better wages and better hopes [cheers], and who in his life here has been able to contrast the condition of working people in England and in America. [Cheers.]

INDIANAPOLIS, OCTOBER 25.

During the campaign in Indiana several prominent labor representatives from the East canvassed the State in advocacy of a protective tariff and the Republican ticket. Chief among these speakers were Charles H. Litchman, of Massachusetts, ex-Secretary-General of the Knights of Labor; John J. Jarrett, Hon. Henry Hall, Eccles Robinson, and Robert D. Layton, of Pennsylvania, and Jeremiah Murphy, of New York. These gentlemen, assisted by John R. Rankin, Marshall C. Woods, and other prominent Indiana labor leaders, signalized the conclusion of their campaign work by a notable workingmen's demonstration on October 25. About 10,000 voters from over the State participated in the parade, led by Chief Marshal John R. Rankin, assisted by C. A. Rodney, George E. Clarke, Wm. R. Mounts, John Baker, Fred Andler, Wm. H. Baughmier, Geo. E. Perry, Lewis Rathbaust, J. N. Loop, Wm. Cook, Gustave Schneider, John W. Browning, A. Raphel, and Michael Bamberger.

General Harrison, with Hon. William McKinley, Jr., of Ohio, Senator John C. Spooner, of Wisconsin, and Senator Henry W. Blair, of New Hampshire, reviewed the column and later attended a great meeting at Tomlinson Hall. Many ladies occupied seats on the stage, among them Mrs. Harrison. When General Harrison appeared, escorted by Secretary Litchman, the vast audience arose and cheered frantically for full five minutes.

L. W. McDaniels, a prominent member of the Typographical Union, presided, and in his address among other things said:

We are here to repudiate the authority claimed by a few professional men to speak for the wage-workers of Indiana, to deny the truthfulness of their statements, and to contradict the assertion that there is other than the kindliest feeling among the workingmen of Indiana toward General Harrison. While General Harrison has never acted the blatant demagogue by making loud professions, yet we have had evidence of his earnest sympathy and sincere friendship on more than one occasion, notably his advocacy while in the Senate of the bill making arbitration the means of settlement of labor troubles and excluding contract labor from our shores. Also the bill prohibiting the use of convict labor on Government works, or the purchasing by the Government of any of the products of convict labor.

As General Harrison arose to respond there was another prolonged outbreak; he appeared greatly moved, and delivered probably his most earnest speech of the campaign. The demonstrations of approval were very marked, especially as the General warmed up to his denials of matters suggested by Chairman McDaniels' remarks. He said:

_Mr. McDaniels and my Friends_--I have seen, during this busy summer, many earnest and demonstrative assemblages of my fellow-citizens. I have listened to many addresses full of the kindest expressions toward me personally; but, among them all, none have been more grateful to me, none have more deeply touched me than this great assemblage of the workingmen of Indiana and these kind words which have been addressed to me in your behalf. [Great cheering.] There are reasons why this should be so that will readily occur to your minds, and to some of which Mr. McDaniels has alluded. Early in this campaign certain people, claiming to speak for the laboring men, but really in the employ of the Democratic campaign managers, promulgated through the newspaper press and by campaign publications that were not given the open endorsement of the Democratic campaign managers, but were paid for by their funds and circulated under their auspices, a number of false and scandalous stories relating to my attitude toward organized labor. [Great and prolonged cheering.] The purpose of all these stories was to poison the minds of the workingmen against the candidate of the party that stands in this campaign for the principle of protection to American labor. [Great cheering.] I have only once, in all the addresses I have made to my fellow-citizens, alluded to these malicious and scandalous stories, but, now and in the presence of this great gathering of workingmen, I do pronounce them to be utterly false. [Tumultuous cheering, waving of flags and banners, continued for several minutes.] The story that I ever said that one dollar a day was enough for a workingman, with all its accompaniments and appendages, is not a perversion of anything I ever said--it is a false creation. [Enthusiastic cheering.] I will not follow in detail this long catalogue of campaign slanders, but will only add that it is equally false that anywhere or at any time I ever spoke disparagingly of my fellow-citizens of Irish nativity or descent. Many of them are now enrolling themselves on the side of protection for American labor--this created the necessity for the story. [Cheers.] I want to say again that those who pitch a campaign upon so low a level greatly underestimate the intelligence, the sense of decency, and the love of fair play of the American people. [Prolonged cheering.] I said to one of the first delegations that visited me that this was a contest of great principles; that it would be fought out upon the high plains of truth, and not in the swamps of slander and defamation. [Great cheering.] Those who will encamp their army in the swamp will abandon the victory to the army that is on the heights. [Cheers.] The Republican party stands to-day as the bulwark and defense of the wage-earners of this country against a competition which may reduce American wages even below the standard they falsely impute to my suggestion. [Cheers.]

There are two very plain facts that I have often stated--and others more forcibly than I--that it seems to me should be conclusive with the wage-earners of America. The policy of the Democratic party--the revision of our tariff laws as indicated by the Democratic party, a revenue-only tariff, or progressive free trade--means a vast and sudden increase of importations. Is there a man here so dull as not to know that this means diminished work in our American shops? [Cheers and cries of "No, no!"] If some one says that labor is not fully employed now, do you hope it will be more fully employed when you have transferred one-third of the work done in our shops to foreign workshops? [Cries of "No, no!"] If some one tells me that labor is not sufficiently rewarded here, does he hope to have its rewards increased by striking down our protective duties and compelling our workmen to compete with the underpaid labor of Europe? [Cheers.]

I conclude by saying that less work and lower wages are the inevitable result of the triumph of the principles advocated by the Democratic party. [Cheers.]

And now you will excuse further speech from me. [Cries of "Go on!"] There are here several distinguished advocates of Republican principles. You will be permitted to hear now, I understand, from the Hon. Henry W. Blair, a Senator from the State of New Hampshire, who has been so long at the head of the Committee on Education and Labor in the United States Senate; and to-night in this hall you will be permitted to listen to the Hon. William McKinley, Jr., of Ohio. Now will you allow me again to thank you out of a full heart for this cordial tender of your confidence and respect. I felt that in return I could not omit to say what I have said, not because you needed to be assured of my friendliness, but in recognition of a confidence that falsehood and slander could not shake. I have not thought it in good taste to make many personal references in my public addresses. If any one thinks it necessary that a comparison should be instituted between the candidates of the two great parties as to their friendliness to the reforms demanded by organized labor, I must leave others to make it. [Great cheering.]

INDIANAPOLIS, OCTOBER 27.

The railroad men of Indiana held their last gathering of the great campaign on Saturday night, October 27. Its estimated 7,000 voters participated in their parade under Chief Marshal A. D. Shaw and Chief of Staff Geo. Butler. The Porter Flambeau Club, the Harrison Zouaves, and 1,000 members of the Indianapolis Railroad Club--each man carrying a colored lantern--escorted the visiting organizations. General Harrison and the Hon. W. R. McKeen, of Terre Haute, reviewed the brilliant procession from the balcony of the New-Denison and then repaired to Tomlinson Hall, where the General's arrival was signalized by an extraordinary demonstration. Chairman Finch introduced Hon. Mathew O'Doherty, of Louisville, and A. F. Potts, of Indianapolis, who addressed the meeting later in the evening.

General Harrison was the first speaker. He said:

_My Friends of the Railroad Republican Clubs_--Before your committee waited upon me to request my presence here to-night I had resolutely determined that I would not make another address in this campaign. But when they presented their suggestion that I should meet my railroad friends, I said to them--the kindness which has been shown to me from an early period in this campaign by the railroad men of Indiana has been so conspicuous and so cordial that I could not deny any request that is presented in their name. [Cheers.] And so I am here to-night, not to speak upon any political topic, but only to express, if I can find words to express, the deep and earnest thankfulness I feel toward you who have shown so much kindness and confidence in me. [Cheers.] Very early in this campaign there were those who sought to make a breach between you and me. You did not wait for my answer, but you made answer yourselves. [Cheers.] And time and again you have witnessed your faith that my disposition toward you and toward the men who toil for their living was one of friendliness, and the principles which I represented and have always advocated were those that promoted the true interests of the workingmen of America. [Cheers.] I have always believed and held that the prosperity of our country, that the supremacy of its institutions and its social order all depended upon our pursuing such a policy in our legislation that we should have in America a class of workingmen earning adequate wages that would bring comfort into their homes and maintain hope in their hearts. [Cheers.] A despairing man, a man out of whose horizon the star of hope has gone, is not a safe citizen in a republic. [Cheers.] Therefore I would preserve against unfriendly competition the highest possible scale of wages to our working people. [Great cheering.]

I know the stout hearts, I know the intelligence, I know the enterprise of those men who man our railway trains and push them at lightning speed through darkness and storm. I know the skill and faithfulness of those who sit at the telegraph instrument, holding in their watchfulness the safety of those who journey. I know the fidelity of the men who conduct this business, which has grown to be a system as fine and perfect as the finest product of mechanical art. [Cheers.] And so I value to-night this evidence of your cordial respect; and let me say that whatever may happen to me in the future, whether I shall remain a citizen of Indianapolis to bear with you the duties and responsibilities of private citizenship, or shall be honored with office, I shall never forget this great demonstration of your friendliness. [Prolonged cheers.]

General Harrison's unequalled campaign of speech-making closed on the afternoon of this day with a visit from 80 young lady students of Oxford, Ohio, College. They were organized as the "Carrie Harrison Club of Oxford," and their visit was in honor of that distinguished lady, who, 36 years before, as Miss Carrie Scott, graduated from this same institution, of which her venerable father, the Rev. Dr. John W. Scott, was the first President. The students were accompanied by President and Mrs. Faye Walker and Professors Wilson, Fisher, and Dean.

Miss Nellie F. Deem, of Union City, Indiana, the youngest teacher in the college, addressed Mrs. Harrison on behalf of the school. General Harrison responded briefly in a happy little speech, in which he expressed the pleasure felt by both over the visit of the Oxford young ladies. He spoke of their mutual memories of the school and the happy days spent in its charming surroundings, and said they both rejoiced in the prosperity of the college, noted as it was for its scholarship and the Christian training of its pupils. In conclusion he thanked them for their visit, and assured them that the kind words spoken of Mrs. Harrison and himself were fully appreciated and would be long remembered.

INDIANAPOLIS, NOVEMBER 5.

The last day of the great campaign brought a delegation of nearly 100 ladies and gentlemen from Terre Haute, Indiana, who came to deliver a handsome present of a miniature silver-mounted plush chair, designated the "Presidential Chair." They also brought Mrs. Harrison a valuable flower-stand, voted to her at Germania Fair as the most popular lady. In returning thanks for these gifts and their visit General Harrison said:

_Captain Ebel and Gentlemen_--I am very much obliged to you for this friendly visit. It comes in the nature of a surprise, for it was only a little while ago that I was advised of your intention. I thank you for this gift. It is intended, I suppose, as a type, and a type of a very useful article, one that does not come amiss in any station of life. Only those who for months found their only convenient seat upon a log or a cracker-box know what infinite luxury there was in even a common Windsor chair. We are glad to welcome you to our home, and will be glad to greet personally the members of this club and those ladies who accompany you.

The General then, in behalf of Mrs. Harrison, thanked the ladies for their present to her.

THE ELECTION, NOVEMBER, 1888.

It is not the purpose of this work to more than chronicle the result of the great presidential campaign of 1888. The election fell on November 6. Twenty States gave the Republican candidate 233 votes in the Electoral College, and 18 States cast 168 votes for Mr. Cleveland, the Democratic candidate. The total vote cast in the 38 States, for the 7 electoral tickets, was 11,386,632, of which General Harrison received 5,440,551. The Republican electoral ticket was chosen in Indiana by a plurality of 2,392 votes.

When it became evident that General Harrison had won the election a demonstration without parallel was inaugurated at Indianapolis and continued three days. The exciting street parades and gatherings witnessed at the time of his nomination were re-enacted with tenfold energy and enthusiasm. Delegations came from all points in the State to offer their congratulations, and 10,000 telegrams and letters from distinguished countrymen poured in upon the successful candidate. From an early hour on the morning of the 7th, for days thereafter, the streets of Indianapolis were thronged with enthusiastic visitors.

The first delegation to call upon General Harrison after his election came from Hendricks County, numbering 400 veterans and others, headed by Ira J. Chase, the newly elected Lieutenant-Governor, Rev. J. H. Hull, and John C. Ochiltree. General Harrison made no formal response to their congratulatory address. On November 9 a delegation from the Commercial Club of Cincinnati arrived, and at night the saw-makers of Indianapolis--about 100 in number--bedecked in red from head to foot, marched with glaring torches to the residence of General Harrison, and after a serenade called upon him for a speech.

Coming out on the steps the General said:

The time for speech-making is over. The debate is closed, and I believe the polls are closed. ["Right you are!"] I will only thank you for your call to-night and for that friendly spirit which you have shown to me during the campaign.

_A Famous Telegram._