Part 26

_My Fellow-citizens_--Speaking this morning in the open air, which since my official isolation from campaigning has made my voice unaccustomed to it, will make it impossible for me to speak further at this time. I do not deem this ceremony at all out of accord with the patriotic impulses which have stirred our hearts to-day. Education was early in the thought of the framers of our Constitution as one of the best, if not the only guarantee of their perpetuation. Washington, as well as the founders of the venerable and useful institution, appreciated and expressed his interest in the establishment of institutions of learning. How shall one be a safe citizen when citizens are rulers who are not intelligent? How shall he understand those great questions which his suffrage must adjudge without thorough intellectual culture in his youth? We are here, then, to-day engaged in a patriotic work as we lay this corner-stone of an institution that has had a great career of usefulness in the past and is now entering upon a field of enlarged usefulness. We lay this corner-stone and rededicate this institution to truth, purity, loyalty, and a love of God.

_Phi Delta Theta Banquet._

In the evening the President attended a banquet tendered him by Lombard and Knox chapters of Phi Delta Theta, of which college fraternity General Harrison was a member in his student days. At the President's table sat Toastmaster Lester L. Silliman, of Lombard Chapter, with General Miles, Generals Grosvenor, Morgan, and Post, Mayor Stevens, Dr. Ayres, and Rev. Dr. Hood. Brother Geo. W. Prince delivered the welcoming address on behalf of the local chapters, to which the distinguished Phi brother, President Harrison, arising amid great applause, responded. After a few pleasant remarks regarding his recollections of college life and his pleasure at meeting again with the members of the Phi Delta Theta, he said:

My college associations were broken early in life, partly by necessity and partly by choice; by necessity so far as the compulsion to work for a living was upon me, and by choice in that I added to my responsibility at an early date, so that it has not been my pleasure often to meet with or sit about the banquet board with members of this society. It gives me pleasure to meet with you to-night. I feel the greatest sympathy with these young men who are now disciplining their minds for the work of life. I would not have them make these days too serious, and yet they are very full of portent and promise. It is not inconsistent, I think, with the joyfulness and gladness which pertains to youth that they shall have some sense of the value of these golden days. They are days that are to affect the whole future. If I were to select a watchword that I would have every young man write above his door and on his heart, it would be that good word "Fidelity." I know of no better. The man who meets every obligation to the family, to society, to the State, to his country, and his God, to the very best measure of his strength and ability, cannot fail of that assurance and quietness that comes of a good conscience, and will seldom fail of the approval of his fellow-men, and will never fail of the reward which is promised to faithfulness. Unfaithfulness and lack of fidelity to duty, to work, and to obligation is the open door to all that is disgraceful and degrading.

I want to thank you again, gentlemen, for this pleasant greeting, and to ask you, after the rather exhaustive duties of this day, to excuse me from further address and accept the best wishes of a brother in the Phi Delta Theta organization. [Cheers.]

_The Brigade Banquet._

Later in the evening the President and party attended a banquet given by the citizens in honor of the First Brigade. It was a brilliant affair, conducted by the ladies of the city, active among whom were Mrs. Geo. Lescher, Miss Tillie Weeks, Miss Maude Stewart, Miss Winnie Hoover, and Mrs. Whiffen. Mrs. George Gale had charge of the table of honor, assisted by Mrs. Otto M. Smith and Miss Louise Tryon. Gen. Philip S. Post was Master of Ceremonies and presented General Harrison.

The President prologued his parting words with an incident of a visit he made to a small town down the Potomac. Although he was introduced as President all over the town, no special attention was paid to him, and when the local paper came out with a column and a half report of the visit of the Chief Executive, the good people of the town were astonished, but explained their lack of attention by saying they thought Mr. Harrison was president of some fishing club. Aside from jokes, said the President:

One serious word in leaving. This day in Galesburg I shall long remember. The enthusiasm and the cordiality of the citizens, the delicacy and kindness of their attention, have impressed me deeply. I shall ever gratefully recollect Galesburg as a spot of especial interest, as the place of the meeting of the old brigade. Comrades, I hope to meet you again when my time is more my own, and on several occasions like this to speak to you more familiarly, and to recall this time. I have tried not to be stinted in my intercourse with you, for I have wanted you to feel me warm and sincere. I have expressed myself, but not as freely as I would if by ourselves, or if I were but a private citizen or member of the brigade. But I would say to you and all your families, to the wives that sit here, to the wives and children that are at home, to those who have gone out from your roof-tree to prepare homes, to your grand-children--and I hope all of you have them--to one and all, I extend the hearty sympathy and best wishes of the "old-timer" you served so faithfully.

OTTUMWA, IOWA, OCTOBER 9.

The President's party left Galesburg the night of the 8th, arriving at Burlington at 10 o'clock, where about 8,000 people greeted them. The President was escorted to the Commercial Club rooms, where Mayor Duncan, on behalf of the city of Burlington, and P. M. Crapo, president of the club, made addresses of welcome. A reception of one hour's duration followed, during which President Harrison shook hands with 3,000 callers. Ottumwa was reached at 8 o'clock Thursday morning. A committee of citizens, headed by Hon. J. G. Hutchison, met the President at Galesburg. On arrival the President and his brother, John Scott Harrison, were immediately driven to the residence of their sister, Mrs. T. J. Devin, where they passed the morning.

At the Coal Palace the President and Secretary Tracy were met by Gov. Horace Boies and his staff, headed by Adjt.-Gen Greene; also Senator Wm. B. Allison, Senator James F. Wilson, ex-Senator Harlan, Hon. John F. Lacey, and the following Committee of Reception, representing the city of Ottumwa: T. J. Devin, W. T. Harper, J. E. Hawkins, W. B. Smith, Henry Phillips, Sam'l A. Flager, J. C. Manchester, A. W. Johnson, W. T. Fenton, J. G. Meek, Calvin Manning, Geo. Withall, J. W. Garner, J. J. Smith, W. W. Epps, H. B. Hendershott, J. H. Merrill, W. B. Bonnifield, A. H. Hamilton, C. F. Blake, John C. Fisher, Hon. John N. Irwin, J. T. Hackworth, W. C. Wyman, John C. Jordan, A. G. Harrow, Allen Johnston, T. D. Foster, J. W. Edgerly, A. W. Lee, William Daggett, G. H. Sheffer, W. D. Elliott, Charles Bachman, H. A. Zangs, R. H. Moore, Capt. S. B. Evans, Capt. S. H. Harper, H. W. Merrill, J. R. Burgess, J. B. Mowrey, A. C. Leighton, W. S. Cripps, R. L. Tilton, Dr. L. J. Baker, D. A. Emery, Samuel Mahon, W. S. Coen, O. C. Graves, Thomas Swords, and John F. Henry. Other cities in Iowa were represented on the Reception Committee by the following prominent citizens: Hon. John Craig, of Keokuk; Judge Traverse and Senator Taylor, of Bloomfield; Gen. W. W. Wright and Gen. F. M. Drake, Centerville; Gen. B. M. McFall, Oskaloosa; T. B. Perry and J. H. Drake, Albia; Geo. D. Woodin and Hon. F. E. White, Sigourney; Hon. Chas. D. Leggett and Chas. D. Fullen, Fairfield; Hon. Edwin Manning and Capt. W. A. Duckworth, Keosauqua; F. R. Crocker and E. A. Temple, Chariton; O. P. Wright, Knoxville; E. B. Woodruff, Marion Co.; Col. Al. Swalm, Oskaloosa; Hon. W. P. Smith, Hon. Josiah Given, Hon. Fred Lehman, G. W. Wright, Des Moines; Hon. John H. Gear, Hon. John J. Seely, Burlington; Hon. F. C. Hormel, Capt. M. P. Mills, Cedar Rapids; Hon. Geo. H. Spahr, Hon. W. I. Babb, Mt. Pleasant; Hon. J. B. Grinnell, of Grinnell; Dr. Engle, Newton; Frank Letts and J. S. McFarland, Marshalltown; Hon. J. B. Harsh and M. A. Robb, Creston; ex-Governor Kirkwood and Ezekiel Clark, Iowa City.

The President and Governor Boies reviewed the parade from a stand in the park. The column was led by the veterans of the famous Third Iowa Cavalry. Three thousand school children participated in the demonstration, which was witnessed by fully 40,000 spectators. The public reception took place in the afternoon at the Coal Palace; the great building was overflowing. Hon. P. G. Ballingall, President of the Coal Palace Exposition, introduced Governor Boies, who welcomed the President in behalf of the people of Iowa.

President Harrison responded as follows:

_Governor Boies and Fellow-citizens_--I accept in the same cordial and friendly spirit in which they have been offered these words of welcome spoken on behalf of the good people of the great State of Iowa. It gives me pleasure in this hasty journey to pause for a little time in the city of Ottumwa. I have had especial pleasure in looking upon this structure and the exhibits which it contains. It is itself a proof of the enterprise, skill, and artistic taste of the people of this city of which they may justly be very proud. I look about it and see that its adornment has been wrought with materials that are familiar and common, and that these have assumed, under the deft fingers and artistic thoughts of your people, shapes of beauty that are marvellously attractive. If I should attempt to interpret the lesson of this structure, I should say it was an illustration of how much that is artistic and graceful is to be found in the common things of life; and if I should make an application of the lesson, it would be to suggest that we might profitably carry into all our homes and into all neighborly intercourse the same transforming spirit. The common things of this life, touched by a loving spirit, may be made to glow and glisten. The common intercourse of life, touched by friendliness and love, may be made to fill every home and neighborhood with a brightness that jewels cannot shed. And it is pleasant to think that in our American home-life we have reached this ideal in a degree unexcelled elsewhere.

I believe that in the American home, whether in the city or on the farm, the American father and the American mother, in their relations to the children, are kinder, more helpful, and benignant than any others. [Cries of "Good! Good!" and cheers.] In these homes is the strength of our institutions. Let these be corrupted and the Government itself has lost the stone of strength upon which it securely rests.

(Here, by some accident of arrangement, the water of an artificial waterfall immediately behind the President was turned on, and the rush and roar of the water drowned his voice almost completely.)

I have contended with a brass band while attempting to address a popular audience, but I have never before been asked to speak in the rush and roar of Niagara. [Laughter and cheers.] I think if I were to leave it to this audience whether they would rather see that beautiful display and hear the rippling of these waters [pointing] than to hear me, they would vote for the waterfall. [Cries of "No, no!" and "Shut off the water!"]

(At this point the management succeeded in finally turning off the water so that the deafening noise ceased.)

I had supposed that there were limitations upon the freedom of this meeting this afternoon, both as to the Governor and myself, and that no political suggestion of any sort was to be introduced into this friendly concourse of American citizens; and I think both of us have good cause for grievances against the prohibitionists for interrupting us with this argument for cold water. [Great laughter and applause.]

It is quite difficult, called upon as I am every day, and sometimes three or four times a day, to make short addresses with the limitations that are upon me as to the subjects upon which I may speak, to know what to say when I meet my fellow-citizens. I was glad to hear the Governor say that Iowa is prosperous. We have here a witness that it is so. It offers also, I think, a solution of the origin of that prosperity, and suggests how it may be increased and developed. We have in this structure a display of all the products of the farm, and side by side with it a display of the mechanic arts. I think in this combination, in this diversity of interest and pursuit, in this mutual and helpful relation between the toilers of the soil and the workers in our shops, each contributing to the commonwealth and each giving to the other that which he needs, we have that which has brought about the prosperity you now enjoy, and which is to increase under the labors of your children to a degree that we have not realized. The progress in the mechanical arts that men not older than I have witnessed, the application of new agencies to the use of men within the years of my own notice and recollection, read like a fairy tale. Let us not think that we have reached the limits of this development. There are yet uses of the agencies already known to be developed and applied. There are yet agencies perhaps in the great storehouse of nature that have not been harnessed for the use of man. The telegraph, the telephone, and the phonograph have all come within the memory of many who stand about me to-day. The application of steam to ocean travel is within the memory of many here. The development of our railroad system has all come within your memory and mine. The railroad was but a feeble agency in commerce when my early recollection begins; and now this great State is covered with railroads like a network. Every farm is within easy reach of a shipping station, and every man can speak to his neighbor any day of the week, though that neighbor live on the opposite side of the globe. Out of all this what is yet to come? Who can tell? You are favored here in having not only a surface soil that yields richly to the labor of the farmer, but in also having hidden beneath that surface rich mines of coal which are to be converted into power to propel the mills that will supply the wants of your people.

Now, my friends, thanking you for the kindness with which you have listened to me, expressing again my appreciation of the taste and beauty of this great structure in which we stand, and wishing for Iowa and all its citizens the largest increase of prosperity in material wealth, the most secure social order in all their communities, and the crowning blessing of home happiness, I bid you good-by. [Prolonged cheering.]

ST. JOSEPH, MISSOURI, OCTOBER 10.

The first reception in the State of Missouri took place at St. Joseph at 6:30 the morning of October 10. Many thousands greeted the President at the Union Depot. Conspicuous in the assemblage were the veterans of Custer Post, G. A. R., who escorted the party to the neighboring hotel. The Committee of Reception consisted of Col. A. C. Dawes, Chairman; Mayor Wm. Shepard, Hon. John L. Bittinger, Capt Chas. F. Ernst, Capt. F. M. Posegate, Col. N. P. Ogden, August Nunning, Wm. M. Wyeth, Major T. J. Chew, Hon. Geo. J. Englehart, Hon. O. M. Spencer, Dr. J. D. Smith, James McCord, ex-Gov. Silas Woodson, John M. Frazier, Frank M. Atkinson, Rev. H. L. Foote, and Major Joseph Hansen.

Colonel Dawes made a brief welcoming address and presented the President, who spoke as follows:

_My Fellow-citizens_--If you are glad to see me at this hour in the morning, if you are so kind and demonstrative before breakfast, how great would have been your welcome if I had come a little later in the day? [Applause.]

I beg to thank you, who at an inconvenient and early hour, have turned out to speak these words of welcome to us as we pass through your beautiful city. Many years ago I read of St. Joseph. I know something of its history, when, instead of being a large city, it was a place for outfitting those slow and toilsome trains that bore the early pioneers toward California and the far West. Those days are not to be forgotten. Those means of communication were slow, but they bore men and women, full of courage and patriotism, to do for us on the Pacific and in the great West the work of peaceful conquest that has added greatly to the glory and prosperity of our country. And yet we congratulate ourselves that the swifter means of communication have taken the place of the old; we congratulate ourselves that these conveniences, both of business and social life, have come to crown our day. And yet in the midst of them, enjoying the luxuries which modern civilization brings to our doors, let us not lose from our households those plain and sturdy virtues which are essential to true American citizenship; let us remember always that above all surroundings, above all that is external, there is to be prized those solid and essential virtues that make home happy and that make our country great, and that enable us in every time of trial and necessity to call out from among the people some who are fit to lead our armies or to meet every emergency in the history of the State. We are here as American citizens, not as partisans; we are here as comrades of the late war, or, if there are here those who under the other banner fought for what seemed to them to be right, we are here to say one and all that God knew what was best for this country when he cast the issue in favor of the Union and the Constitution. [Applause and cheers.]

Now, again united under its ample guarantee of personal liberty and public security, united again under one flag, we have started forward, if we are true to our obligations, upon a career of prosperity that would not otherwise have been possible. Let us therefore, in all kindliness and faithfulness, in devotion to the right, as God shall give us light to see it, go forward in the discharge of our duties, setting above everything else the flag and the Constitution on which all our rights and securities are based. Now, my comrades of the Grand Army of the Republic and fellow-citizens of Missouri, again I thank you and bid you good-by. [Cheers.]

ATCHISON, KANSAS, OCTOBER 10.

Entering Kansas the President was the recipient of a unique welcome at Atchison, where 1,000 school children and several thousand citizens greeted him. Little Edna Elizabeth Downs was the orator on behalf of the children, and delivered a beautiful address, at the conclusion of which the children showered the President with flowers.

The Mayor of Atchison, Hon. B. P. Waggener, and the following prominent citizens welcomed the Chief Executive: Hon. John J. Ingalls, Hon. Edward K. Blair, Hon. Clem Rohr, Hon. S. C. King, Hon. S. H. Kelsey, Hon. John C. Tomlinson, Hon. A. J. Harwi, Hon. Henry Elleston, Hon. S. R. Stevenson, Hon. C. W. Benning, Judge Rob't M. Eaton, ex-Gov. Geo. W. Glick, Hon. H. C. Solomon, Judge A. G. Otis, Judge David Martin, L. C. Challiss, E. W. Howe, David Auld, B. T. Davis, Chas. E. Faulkner, Major W. H. Haskell, Major S. R. Washer, Capt. J. K. Fisher, Capt. David Baker, Capt. John Seaton, Stanton Park, T. B. Gerow, and H. Claypark. Chief-Justice Albert H. Horton made the welcoming address and introduced President Harrison, who said:

_My Fellow-citizens_--I stand to-day for the first time upon the soil of Kansas. I am glad to have been permitted to enter it by the vestibule of this attractive city, the home of one of your most brilliant statesmen. I cannot refrain from saying, God be thanked that freedom won its early battle in Kansas. [Applause.] All this would have been otherwise impossible. You have a soil christened with the blood of men who died for liberty, and you have well maintained the lessons they taught, living and dying. It was appropriate that the survivors of the late war, men who came home crowned with the consummating victory of liberty, should make the State of Kansas pre-eminently the soldier State of the Union. Now, after telling you that I am very grateful for your friendly greeting this morning, you will, I am sure, excuse me, in this tumult, from attempting further speech. May every good attend you in your homes; may the career of this great State be one of unceasing prosperity in things material, and may your citizenship never forget that the spiritual things that take hold of liberty and human rights are higher and better than all material things. [Prolonged cheering.] Allow me now to present to you the only member of my Cabinet who accompanied me, General Tracy, of New York, the Secretary of the Navy.

TOPEKA, KANSAS, OCTOBER 10.

The President's reception at Topeka on Friday, October 10, was a remarkable ovation; over 50,000 people from every county in the State greeted him. The famous Seventh U. S. Cavalry, Gen. J. W. Forsythe commanding, acted as the guard of honor. The President was welcomed by Gov. Lyman U. Humphrey, Senator John J. Ingalls, Chief-Justice Albert H. Horton, Mayor Robert L. Cofran, and the following distinguished committee: Ex-Gov. Thomas A. Osborn, ex-Gov. Geo. T. Anthony, Capt. Geo. R. Peck, Col. James Burgess, Hon. S. B. Bradford, Judge N. C. McFarland, Judge John Martin, A. J. Arnold, John Guthrie, Wm. P. Douthitt, John Mileham, William Sims, Cyrus K. Holliday, Perry G. Noel, S. T. Howe, Bernard Kelly, J. Lee Knight, N. D. McGinley, Wm. H. Rossington, Rev. Dr. F. S. McCabe, Geo. W. Reed, Elihu Holcomb, Lark Odin, L. J. Webb, Milo B. Ward, J. K. Hudson, F. P. McLennan, H. O. Garvey, Frank Root, John M. Bloss, John F. Gwinn, A. M. Fuller, J. W. F. Hughes, John R. Peckham, James L. King, Henry Bennett, Geo. H. Evans, M. C. Holman, John C. Gordon, H. P. Throop, Joseph R. Hankland, T. W. Durham, Judge C. G. Foster, A. K. Rodgers, A. B. Jetmore, and Thomas F. Oenes.

The parade was an imposing affair. Thirty thousand veterans were in line. The Indiana contingent numbered over 1,000, and as they passed the reviewing carriage, led by Major George Noble, cheer after cheer was given in honor of the distinguished Hoosier. Nearly 6,000 school children participated in the parade. In the afternoon the President visited the reunion grounds with Commander Ira F. Collins and other officers of the Kansas Department, G. A. R. Governor Humphrey delivered the welcoming address.

The President responded as follows: