Part 28

_My Fellow-citizens_--I have known this beautiful city of yours and many of the people of this prosperous county for more than thirty years. I have known in a general way the development of your interests by almost yearly visits to the city of Muncie, but it seems to me that in these two years I have been out of the State you have made more progress than in any ten years when I was in the State. [Cheers.] I think it was in the year 1886, when I spent a night in Muncie, that my attention was drawn by some of your citizens, as darkness settled down, to a remarkable and what was then thought to be chiefly a curious red glow in your horizon. It was, if I recollect aright, about the earliest development of natural gas in Indiana, and the extent of this great field was wholly unknown. How rapidly events have crowded each other since! You have delved into the earth and have found the supply of this most adaptable and extraordinary fuel inexhaustible; and what has it done for you? No longer are you transporting coal from the distant mines to feed your furnaces. No longer are you sending the choppers into the woods to cut your trees and haul them in, that they may bring you winter heat and fuel. The factories have been coming to you. This convenient heat and serviceable fuel is found in the humblest home in Muncie. How it has added to your comfort only those who have used it know. How much it has added to your prosperity and development of manufactures here you have only begun to know. [Cheers.]

The sunlight will not more surely shed its beams on us this morning than this great tide of prosperity which has set in through this gas belt in Indiana shall go on increasing until all these cities and towns within its radius are full of busy men and humming machinery. What does all this mean? It means employment for men. It means happy and comfortable homes for an increasing population. It means an increased home market for the products of your farm. It means that the farmer will have a choice of crops, and will have consumers for perishable products of his farm at his very door. It means, if you preserve the order of your community, if this good county of Delaware continues to maintain its reputation as a law-abiding, liberty-loving, free-school-loving population [cheers], that you shall have a prosperity--an increase of riches and of human comfort that we have scarcely conceived.

And now, my friends, all over this, and above all this, and better than it all, let us keep in mind those higher things that make our country great. I do not forget that your good county sent to the war of the Union, in the gallant regiments that went from this State, a multitude of brave men to stand by the flag. [Cheers.] Some of them are with you to-day. [Applause.] Now let that love of the flag be still uppermost in your hearts. Nothing has pleased me more as I passed through some of our Western States than to see that the school children everywhere had the starry flag in their hands. [Cheers.] Let it be so here and everywhere. Let them learn to love it, to know its beauty, in order that when the time of peril comes they may be ready to defend it. [Applause.] Now to these friends, I am most grateful for your appreciative kindness, and if I shall be able, in the discharge of high and difficult duties, to maintain the respect and confidence of my fellow-citizens of Indiana, other things will take care of themselves.

WINCHESTER, INDIANA, OCTOBER 13.

Winchester's greeting was of the most cordial character; a large share of the population of Randolph County seemed to have turned out to do the President honor. Among the prominent citizens participating were: Leander J. Monks, Albert O. Marsh, Martin B. Miller, C. W. Moore, Dennis Kelley, W. R. Way, W. E. Miller, T. F. Moorman, Albert Canfield, John R. Engle, A. C. Beeson, E. L. Watson, Thos. S. Gordon, H. P. Kizer, J. E. Watson, John T. Chenoweth, W. H. Reinheimer, B. Hawthorne, and B. W. Simmons.

Gen. Thomas M. Browne, on behalf of the citizens, delivered an eloquent address of welcome, and closed by introducing President Harrison, who said:

_My Friends_--It gives me great pleasure to hear from the lips of your honored fellow-citizen, my old-time army comrade, these words of welcome, spoken in your behalf. I thank you and him for his assurance that your assembling here together is without regard to difference in belief, and as American citizens having common interests and a common love for the flag and the Constitution. Now, to these good people of Randolph County I render this morning my sincere thanks for their hearty and cordial welcome. No public servant, in whatever station, can ever be indifferent to the good esteem of men and women and children like these. You do not know how much these kindly faces, these friendly Indiana greetings, help me in the discharge of duties that are not always easy.

I bid you good-by and God-speed. I do wish for Indiana and all her people the greatest happiness that God can give. [Prolonged cheers.]

UNION CITY, INDIANA, OCTOBER 13.

The President found another great crowd awaiting him at Union City, including several hundred school children, each waving a flag. Between rows of children he was escorted to the park near the station by a committee consisting of Hon. Theo. Shockney, B. F. Coddington, J. S. Reeves, and Geo. W. Patchell. Arrived at the park he was met by James B. Ross, S. R. Bell, L. C. Huesman, J. F. Rubey, W. S. Ensign, L. D. Lambert, J. B. Montani, C. S. Hardy, J. C. Platt, Judge J. W. Williams, R. G. Clark, H. H. Le Fever, H. D. Grahs, Chas. Hook, and other prominent citizens. Senator Shockney made the welcoming address. The President, responding, said:

_Senator Shockney and Fellow-citizens_--The conditions are not such here that I can hope to make many of you hear the few words that it is possible for me to speak to you. I have found myself in this tour through these Western States, undertaken for the purpose of meeting some of my comrades of the late war, who had invited me to be with them at their annual gatherings, repeating the words "Thank you" everywhere. I have felt how inadequate this word or any other word was to express the sense of gratitude I should feel to these friendly fellow-citizens who everywhere greeted me with kind words and kinder faces. I feel very grateful to see you, and to realize that if there are any fault-finders, sometimes with reason, and sometimes without, that the great body of our people are interested only in good government, in good administration, and that the offices shall be filled by men who understand that they are the servants of the people, and who serve them faithfully and well. If it were not so a President would despair. Great as the Government is, vast as is our civil list, it is wholly inadequate to satisfy the reasonable demands of men, and so, from disappointment, reasonable or unreasonable, we turn with confidence and receive with encouragement these kindly greetings from the toilers of the country--the men and women who only ask from the Government that it shall protect them in their lives, their property, and their homes; that it shall encourage education, provide for these sweet young children, so that they shall have an easier road in life than their fathers had, and that there shall be an absence of corrupt intent or act in the administration of public business.

And now, standing on the line which divides these two States, the one for which I have the regard every man should feel for his birthplace, and the other to which I owe everything I have received in civil life or public honor, I beg to call your attention to the fact how little State lines have to do with American life. Some of you pay your taxes on that side of the line, some on this, but in your intercourse, business, and social ties you cross this line unknowingly. Above both and greater than both--above the just pride which Ohioans have in that noble State, and above the just pride which we have in Indiana--there floats this banner that is the common banner of us all. We are one in citizenship; we are one in devotion to the Government, which makes the existence of States possible and their destruction impossible. [Cheers.] And now, to these children, to my Grand Army friends, and to these old citizens, many of whom I have met under other conditions, I beg to say God bless you every one, and good-by.

DE GRAFF, OHIO, OCTOBER 13.

Crossing the Ohio line a short stop was made at Sidney, where the President shook hands and received a delegation from Bellefontaine headed by Judge Wm. Lawrence. At De Graff the President met with a cordial reception, especially from the school children. He was welcomed by ex-Mayor H. P. Runyon, Dr. W. W. Hamer, Dr. W. H. Hinkle, W. E. Haris, G. W. Harnish, John F. Rexer, Dr. F. M. Galer, Dr. Wm. Hance, R. O. Bigley, D. S. Spellman, D. W. Koch, Benjamin Bunker, W. H. Valentine, J. W. Strayer, and S. E. Loffer.

Superintendent of Schools Joseph Swisher introduced the President, who said:

_My Friends_--I am very glad to see you all, and especially these dear young children. I have been passing through a country glorious in the autumnal tints which make a landscape that can be seen nowhere else in the world, and yet I turn always from these decaying glories of nature with great delight to look into the bright faces of these happy children, where I see a greater, because immortal, glory. I thank them for their presence here this morning. I wish their lives may be as sunny and bright through manhood and through womanhood, finding happiness in usefulness. I wish I had time to shake hands with you all. [Cheers.]

BELLEFONTAINE, OHIO, OCTOBER 13.

Bellefontaine accorded the President an enthusiastic welcome. The Committee of Reception consisted of Dr. A. L. Wright, Mayor of the city; Judge William Lawrence, Judge West, Judge Price, J. C. Brand, D. Hennesy, Geo. W. Emerson, Aaron Gross, A. C. Elliott, A. E. Griffen, H. J. King, J. E. West, I. N. Zearing, and J. Q. A. Campbell.

Mayor Wright delivered a brief welcoming address and introduced the President, who spoke as follows:

_My Fellow-citizens_--I wish all of you could have seen what I have seen in this extended but hasty visit through some of the great States of the central West, the broader view which we get as we journey through this country of the capabilities of its soil, of the beauties of its landscape, of the happiness of its homes, but, above all, of the sturdy manhood of its people, can but be useful to every public man and every patriot. [Applause.] No one can make such a journey as we have and look into the faces of hundreds of thousands of his fellow-citizens and see how here in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri they are everywhere characterized by a sturdy independence and intelligent thoughtfulness and manhood, and doubt the future of this country of which they are citizens. Nothing can shake its repose as long as this great mass of people in these homes, on these farms, in these shops and city dwelling-places are true to themselves and to their children. Not every one can hope to reach the maximum of human wealth or enjoyment, but nowhere else is there so general a diffusion of human comfort and the conveniences of life as in this land of ours. You must not, then, show unthankfulness to the framers of our great Constitution or to God by indulging in gloomy forebodings or in unreasonable complaint. He has not promised that everywhere and every season the fields should give full returns. He has promised that the food of man should not fail, and where else is famine unknown? Other countries have now and then appealed for philanthropic help from abroad to feed their population, greater or less. The United States has always a surplus after its people are fed, and for this we should be thankful. I have been told everywhere that though crops in some respects and in some places have been short, the general prosperity is very great. Everywhere I have been told that no wheel is idle, and that no hand is idle that seeks employment that honest bread may come to his household. I believe that we are on an upward grade of prosperity, if we will be brave and hopeful and true, that shall lead us perhaps to a development and an increase of wealth we have never before attained. And now, my fellow-citizens, thanking you for this friendly morning greeting, I bid you good-by. [Applause.] Let me have the pleasure, however, of introducing to you my valued associate at Washington--Secretary Tracy. [Applause.]

CRESTLINE, OHIO, OCTOBER 13.

The people of Crestline honored the President with a large assembly, prominent among whom were: Mayor P. W. Pool, Hon. Daniel Babst, John G. Barney, Alexander Hall, B. F. Miller, John Whittle, John F. Castle, C. F. Frank, Dr. W. P. Bennett, L. G. Russell, A. Howorth, G. B. Thrailkill, E. S. Bagley, D. L. Zink, J. P. Davis, T. P. Kerr, W. R. Boyd, E. W. Hadley, Samuel Gee, C. C. Hall, D. S. Patterson, and Richard Youngblood.

Mayor Pool welcomed and introduced the President in a brief address. General Harrison responded:

_My Fellow-citizens_--Already some seven or eight times this morning, beginning before breakfast, I have been called upon to talk briefly to my fellow-citizens who have gathered at the various points where we made brief stops at their request. The story I must tell you is the same old story I have been telling them--that I am very grateful for your friendly expressions and presence; very grateful for the kindliness which speaks through those who address me, and for the kindness which appears in all your faces. It is pleasant to know that as against all enemies of our country we are one, that we have great pride, just pride in our birthright as American citizens, just pride in the country of our adoption as to those who have found a home here with us. It is the people's land more than any other country in the world. Mr. Lincoln felicitously expressed it to be a "government of the people, by the people, for the people." [Applause.] They originate it; they perpetuate it. If it does not miss its purpose it is administered for their good. [Applause.] And so to you upon whom the burden of citizenship now rests, you who have the care of these homes and the responsibilities of womanhood; to these lads who will soon be citizens, and to these girls who are coming on to womanhood, to all I express my thanks for your friendly greeting. [Applause.] To every one of you I wish the most abundant success; that every home represented here may be a typical American home, in which morality and purity and love sit as the crowning virtues and are household gods. Our country is prosperous, though not all have attained this year the measure of success which they had hoped for. If there was any shortness of crops anywhere, already the fields are green with the promise of another year. Let our hearts be hopeful, let us be faithful and true, and the future of our country and our own comfort are assured. [Cheers.]

MANSFIELD, OHIO, OCTOBER 13.

At Mansfield, the home of Senator Sherman, a large assemblage greeted the President, prominent among whom was the distinguished Senator, and Hon. Henry C. Hedges, Frank W. Pierson, J. M. Waugh, Frank K. Tracy, Maj. Joseph S. Hedges, Hon. W. S. Kerr, J. R. Brown, Nelson Ozier, Capt. W. S. Bradford, Hon. W. S. Cappeller, Hon. W. M. Hahn, Capt. Joseph Brown, G. U. Harn, Maj. W. W. Smith, Geo. C. Wise, Judge Jas. E. Lowry, James McCoy, John Crum, Ried Carpenter, and Wm. C. Hedges, Jr.

Senator Sherman introduced the President, who spoke briefly, saying:

_My Fellow-citizens_--We stop so frequently upon this journey and our time at each station is so brief, that I cannot hope to say anything that would be interesting or instructive. I thank you most sincerely for these friendly manifestations. I am glad to be permitted to stop at the home of your distinguished Senator and my friend. [Cheers.] I am sure, however you may differ from him in political opinion, the people of Mansfield and of Ohio are proud of the eminence which he has attained in the counsels of the Nation and of the distinguished service he has been able to render to his country not only in Congress but in the Treasury Department. [Cheers.] He is twin in greatness with that military brother who led some of you, as he did me, in some of the great campaigns of the war, and they have together rendered conspicuous services to this country, which we, as they, love with devoted affection. We have so many common interests and so much genuine friendliness among the American people that except in the very heat and ardor of a political campaign the people are kind to each other, and we soon forget the rancor of these political debates. We ought never to forget that we are American citizens; we ought never to forget that we are put in charge of American interests, and that it is our duty to defend them. [Applause.] Thanking you again for your presence and kindliness, I bid you good-by. [Applause.]

WOOSTER, OHIO, OCTOBER 13.

At Wooster, the seat of the well-known university, the presidential party received a rousing greeting, especially from the students with their college cry. At the head of the Committee of Reception was the venerable Professor Stoddard, formerly professor of chemistry at Miami University when Benjamin Harrison attended that institute. Among other prominent townsmen who received the President were: Hon. M. L. Smyser, Hon. A. S. McClure, Jacob Frick, Col. C. V. Hard, Capt. Harry McClarran, Dr. John A. Gann, Dr. R. N. Warren, Capt. R. E. Eddy, Lieut. W. H. Woodland, W. O. Beebe, Dr. J. D. Robison, Wm. Annat, John C. Hall, Enos Pierson, R. J. Smith, Samuel Metzler, Geo. W. Reed, C. W. McClure, A. G. Coover, A. M. Parish, Anthony Wright, Abram Plank, J. S. R. Overholt, Jesse McClellan, David Nice, Andrew Branstetter, Charles Landam, Wm. F. Kane, Capt. Lemuel Jeffries, Sylvester F. Scovel, D.D., O. A. Hills, D.D., Jas. M. Quinby, R. W. Funck, and Harry Heuffstot.

Congressman Smyser introduced the President, who said:

_My Fellow-citizens_--If anything could relieve the sense of weariness which is ordinarily incident to extended railroad travel, it would be the exceeding kindness with which we have been everywhere received by our fellow-citizens, and to look upon an audience like that assembled here, composed in part of venerable men who experienced the hardships of early life in Ohio, of some of those venerable women who shared those labors and self-denials of early life in the West, and in part of their sons, that gallant second generation, who, in the time of the Nation's peril in 1861, sprang to its defence and brought the flag home in honor [applause], and in part of these young men here undergoing that discipline of mind which is to fit them for useful American citizenship, full of the ambitions of early manhood, and, I trust, rooted in the principles of morality and loyalty [applause], and in part of these sweet-faced children, coming from your schools and homes to brighten with their presence this graver assembly. Where else in the world could such a gathering be assembled? Where else so much social order as here? The individual free to aspire and work, the community its own police officer and guardian.

We are here as American citizens, having, first, duties to our families, then to our neighborhood--to the institutions and business with which we are connected--but above all, and through and by all these duties, to our country and to God, by whose beneficial guidance our Government was founded, by whose favor and protection it has been preserved. [Applause.] Friendly to all peoples of the world, we will not thwart their course or provoke quarrels by unfriendly acts, neither will we be forgetful of the fact that we are charged here first with the conservation and promotion of American interests, and that our Government was founded for its own citizenship. [Applause and cheers.] But I cannot speak at further length. I must hurry on to other places, where kind people are impatiently awaiting our coming, and to duties which will be assumed and undertaken with more courage since I have so often looked into the kind faces of the people whom I endeavor to serve. [Applause.] Let me present to you now, and I do so with great pleasure, one of the gentlemen called by me under the Constitution to assist in the administration of the Government--one whom I know you have learned to love and honor as you are now privileged to know--Gen. Benjamin F. Tracy, the Secretary of the Navy. [Cheers.]

ORRVILLE, OHIO, OCTOBER 13.

At Orrville, Wayne County, it was not contemplated to stop; but so large and enthusiastic was the crowd the President held a brief reception. Among the prominent townsmen who welcomed him were: A. H. Walkey, S. N. Coe, A. E. Clark, J. W. Hostetter, A. Dennison, N. S. Brice, D. J. Luikheim, and John Trout.

In response to repeated cries of "speech," the President said: "Fellow-citizens--The American people are very kind"--at this point the train started, and the President closed abruptly by saying-"and I feel sure that they will here excuse my failure to make a speech." There were loud shouts of laughter at the President's readiness as the train pulled out.

MASSILLON, OHIO, OCTOBER 13.

At Massillon several thousand people assembled and great enthusiasm prevailed. The Committee of Reception consisted of Hon. William M. Reed, Mayor of the city; Prof. E. A. Jones, Hon. J. Walter McClymonds, Hon. S. A. Conrad, William F. Ricks, Clement Russell, and Joseph Grapevine, Esq. The Grand Army veterans and school children were present in force. Mayor Reed made the welcoming address.

President Harrison, responding, said:

_Mr. Mayor and Fellow-citizens_--The burden of obligation connected with this visit is put upon me by the enthusiasm and magnitude of this welcome which you have extended to me. It gives me pleasure to stop for a brief moment in a city widely celebrated for its industries, and among a people widely celebrated for their virtues and intelligence. [Cheers.] It was especially gratifying as we passed in your suburbs, one of these busy hives of industry, to see upon the bank, waving with hearty cheers, the operatives in their work-day clothes. It is of great interest to know that you have these diversified industries among you. Your lot would be unhappy and not prosperous if you were all pursuing the same calling, even if it were the calling to which I belong, the profession of the law. [Laughter.]