Part 45

I visit your great State for the first time. When this journey has been completed only two of the States of the Union, and only its most distant Territory, will have escaped my personal inspection and observation. From Maine to California, from the northern line of Michigan, where it is washed by the waters of the Sault Ste. Marie, to the Savannah, I have traversed this broad land of ours, and out of all this journeying, out of all this mingling with our people, I have come to be a prouder and, I hope, a better American. We have a country whose diversity of climate, soil, and production makes it, in a degree not true of other people in the world, independent and self-contained. None of the necessaries of life, and few of its luxuries, would be denied to us if we were to limit ourselves to articles of American growth and production. [Cheers.] But better than all this, greater than our bulk, are those things that enter into and characterize the American social and political life. A distinguished Englishman journeying in this country not many years ago, speaking of his observations, rather caustically mentioned that the question most often propounded to him was whether he was not surprised by the great size of the country. He was a man of discernment, one who looked beneath the surface, who had learned to measure the mighty impulses which turn the current of human civilization, and rebuking this pride of bulk he said: Yes, it was a surprise, but greater still to him was the surprise that over 60,000,000 people could maintain and preserve under free republican institutions the social order and individual liberty which was maintained here; greater to him than bulk was the marvel that this great people could have survived and maintained its institutions under the terrible stress of the great Civil War; greater than all else to him was that unification of the people which seemed to follow that period of deadly strife. I rejoice to be with you to-night as an American citizen. I rejoice in the glory which the Centennial State has brought to the Union, and which will greatly increase. [Cheers.]

DENVER, COLORADO, MAY 12.

On his arrival at Denver, at 9:45 Tuesday morning, President Harrison received an ovation. The tribute was a spontaneous, hearty one, emphasized by the acclaim of 100,000 people. Governor Routt, ex-Senator Tabor, ex-Senator Hill, and other distinguished citizens escorted the presidential party from Glenwood Springs.

The Chief Executive was met at the Union Depot by the Hon. Platt Rogers, Mayor of the city, and 200 prominent residents, comprising the Committee of Reception, as follows: D. H. Moffat, I. B. Porter, C. E. Taylor, Wolfe Londoner, J. E. Leet, Professor Haswell, S. H. Standart, W. S. Cheesman, James Leonard, W. D. Todd, Adolph Zang, Phil. Bockfinger, T. M. Patterson, C. S. Thomas, J. M. Berkey, M. J. McNamara, C. H. Reynolds, J. D. McGilvray, H. N. Chittenden, J. A. Thatcher, J. S. Wolfe, Dr. L. E. Lemen, Edward Eddy, Dr. Stedman, E. R. Barton, D. Sheedy, H. B. Chamberlin, George Tritch, James Rice, Victor Elliott, E. Monash, Thomas E. Poole, W. J. Barker, J. T. Cornforth, J. K. Mullen, E. B. Light, Fine P. Ernest, Colonel Dodge, Donald Fletcher, W. G. Fisher, A. C. Fisk, M. Hallett, F. A. Meredith, Charles B. Kountz, I. E. Blake, Dr. Dennison, W. H. James, C. M. Kittredge, Joseph H. Smith, William Stapleton, J. C. Helm, S. T. Smith, P. J. Flynn, Isaac Brinker, Judge Rising, Frank Bishop, Supervisor Anderson, J. W. Roberts, Herman Strauss, J. H. Brown, A. B. McKinley, W. J. Barker, H. P. Steele, Lafe Pence, George F. Batchelder, Rev. J. M. Freeman, John Arkins, ex-Governor Grant, J. M. Lawrence, J. J. Joslin, F. J. V. Skiff, W. S. Decker, John Corcoran, W. B. Felker, F. B. Hill, J. D. Best, John Riethmann, Thomas Hayden, Anthony Sweeney, ex-Governor Cooper, Charles D. Cobb, John Evans, William Scott Lee, Peter Magnes, Dr. Bancroft, E. F. Hallack, R. H. McMann, S. L. Holzman, H. R. Wolcott, J. S. Brown, M. B. Carpenter, Joseph Cresswell, R. W. Woodbury, E. M. Ashley, J. S. Appel, E. L. Scholtz, Dennis Sullivan, Samuel Elbert, G. W. Clayton, J. C. Montgomery, G. C. De Bronkart, Louis Mack, C. S. Morey, George E. Randolph, William Barth, T. S. McMurray, J. E. Bates, C. F. Wilson, Rev. Myron W. Reed, Dr. Graham, J. L. McNeill, W. H. Bush, G. G. Symes, Rodney Curtis, J. W. Nesmith, O. E. Le Fevre, Judge Furman, H. J. Adams, J. C. Twombly, Judge Graham, F. Rinne, Supervisor Slack, Gen. W. A. Hamill, H. P. Parmelee, General Dunn, J. H. Poole, George Raymond, J. W. Hampton, Henri Foster, W. C. Lothrop, James H. Blood, E. W. Merritt, Wm. Harris, General Humphrey, Daniel Ryan, R. S. Roe, R. W. Speer, C. S. Lee, Jos. Milner, J. A. McDonald, Judge Bentley, M. Currigan, M. D. Van Horn, Fred Walsen, Dr. H. K. Steele, Assyria Hall, A. P. Rittenhouse, Richard Sopris, F. C. Goudy, C. H. Hackley, Isaac N. Stevens, Thomas Croke, J. P. Ewing, George C. Manly, J. T. Adams, George Ady, D. W. Hart, Judge Alvin Marsh, C. D. Titus, Supervisor Chase, Otto Mears, H. Solomon, D. F. Carmichael, Amos Steck, E. S. Chapman, W. B. Hanscome, R. A. Gurley, C. H. Sage, Rev. Dr. Tupper, Henry Apple, Herbert George, W. H. Firth, Egbert Johnson, F. E. Edbrooke, S. K. Hooper, Thos. G. Anderson, A. D. Shepard, J. S. McGilvray, E. L. Fox, D. C. Packard, O. Whittemore, David May, Ralph Voorhees, Senator Cochrane, J. M. Daily, Col. C. J. Clark, H. L. Morris, Rev. Father Malone, Dr. Blickensderfer, J. M. Downing, C. M. Hampson, Thomas Nicholas, Judge Miller, Jerome Riche, J. D. McGilvray, W. H. Milburn, F. H. Kreuger, L. H. Guldman, W. N. Byers, William M. Bliss, George H. Graham, Lewis Price, Jay Cook, Jr., C. S. Prowitt, S. C. Shepard, O. Carstarphen, Captain J. T. Smith, and Hugh Butler.

The parade was an imposing and brilliant spectacle, in charge of Chief Marshal A. H. Jones, assisted by Gen. E. K. Stimson, Chief of Staff, and the following aides: John C. Kennedy, Adjutant-General of Colorado; Benjamin F. Klee, E. J. Brooke, W. H. Conley, John A. McBeth, W. Y. Sedam, N. G. Dunn, George Ady, Thomas R. Scott, John Corcoran, B. A. Harbour, Thomas Baldwin, G. G. Symes, S. A. Shepard, and Robert R. Wright. Over 1,000 G. A. R. comrades were in line, led by George W. Cook, and several hundred Sons of Veterans, commanded by Col. C. H. Anderson. The President's carriage, drawn by six white horses, was escorted by Lieut. Col. A. W. Hogle and staff. Countless thousands thronged the streets along the route of the procession. As the column passed the High School 10,000 scholars and children gave the President and Mrs. Harrison an enthusiastic greeting. A vast assemblage awaited the President's arrival at the reviewing stand, where he was met by the Colorado Pioneers, led by Maj. William Wise. Governor Routt delivered an eloquent address of welcome, followed by Mayor Rogers, who portrayed the triumphant struggle and growth of Denver. President Harrison responded as follows:

_Governor Routt, Mr. Mayor, Pioneers of Colorado, Comrades of the Grand Army_ [cheers] _and Fellow-citizens_--This scene is inspiring. This beautiful city, the fame of which your journeying citizens have not failed to carry to the far East [laughter and cheers], has become known to me as we can know by the hearing of the ear; and I am rejoiced to add to my pleasant impressions of Colorado, and of its commercial and political capital, that which is in sight of the eye, which has but deepened and enlarged the favorable impressions which I brought to your State. It is a marvellous thing that all we see here is in a State whose existence dates from the dawn of the second century of our national life. What a tremendous testimony to the organizing power and energy of the American people this great State is! That these wastes, so unpromising to the eye in that early time, should have been invaded by the restless energy of indomitable men; that they should have seen in visions that which was to follow their heroic labor for the development of these hidden resources; that no drought or drifting sand, no threat of mountain nor of sky, could turn back these brave-hearted men who had set their faces to pierce and uncover the hidden riches of these mountains. The pioneers of Colorado are worthy of honor. Those who have entered into their labors, who have come not toilsomely but on swift and easy wings into the heritage that they have opened, should, always and everywhere, gratefully acknowledge the services of those who made this easy pathway for their feet. [Cheers.]

Your State is blessed in the diversity of its resources. You do not depend on any one of the great industries of civilized life. You have taken from your mines immense stores of the precious metals, but when these are gone or their supply is diminished you will turn your eyes toward those metals that we call base, but that after all enter in so many ways into human life that they supply more enduring and in the end more profitable industries. Your iron, and coal, and lead, and building stone will be sources of income inexhaustible. These valleys, touched by the magical power of irrigation, will yield to your population abundant food, and you will yet have within yourselves that happy commercial condition of a State producing and exchanging within its own limits nearly all the necessaries of life. [Cheers.] Transportation is always a burden. The industrial condition is always best when the producers and the consumers are near together.

I am glad to know that you have not been so busy in delving into the earth; that you have not so turned your minds to the precious metal as to have forgotten that there is a blue sky above you; that there are aspirations, and hopes, and glories that are greater than all material things. [Cheers.] You have not failed to make sure that the children, the blessed children of your homes, that are now coming on, are made secure in the possession of a well-ordered and of a well-endowed school system. [Cheers.] What a testimony it is to the American character that, however intense the push for the things of this life, however eager the pursuit of gain, you can never assemble a community of 200 people that they do not begin to organize schools for the children. [Cheers.] These common schools are not simply nurseries of intellectual training; they are nurseries of citizenship. [Cheers.]

It has been a most happy sight to see the same old banner that we bore into the smoke of battle and carried over dying comrades to place it in triumph on the ramparts of the enemy now in the hands of the children of Colorado. [Cheers.] Proof has been made a thousand times--proof will be made whenever the occasion requires--that, as much as we pursue gain and personal ends, we have nothing--property or life--that we do not freely lay down upon the altar of our country for the general good. [Cheers.] But, my fellow-citizens, this assemblage is too vast, and the demand upon my time for public speech has been too protracted, to enable me to pursue these remarks further.

Comrades of the Grand Army of the Republic, survivors of the great war whose success preserved all that our fathers had devised and established, whose success brought back this flag in honor and established it again the undisputed emblem of an indissoluble Union [cheers], God has bountifully lengthened out your days that you might catch some glimpse of the glory that has come from the achievements in which you bore an honorable part. But only the vision of the prophet reaching out over centuries to come can catch the full glory of what your deeds have wrought. I give you to-day a most affectionate greeting [cheers]; I give you a regretful good-by. May you hold in the community where you live that respect and honor to which you are entitled. Let no Grand Army man ever dishonor in civil life the noble record he made in war. May every blessing follow you, and if it shall not be in God's dispensation to give you riches, at least, comrades, you shall die with the glorious satisfaction of having contributed to the greatest work that man ever wrought for humanity and good; and, wrapped in the flag you followed, your comrades will, one by one, see that in honored graves your bodies rest until the resurrection, and that on each returning day of decoration flowers are strewn upon your graves.

Citizens of Denver, I cannot close without expressing the great satisfaction and surprise with which I have witnessed this morning the magnificent commercial developments which have been made here. These streets, these towering, substantial, and stately houses in which your commerce is transacted, place you in the front rank of enterprise. I do not think any city so young can claim so high a place. [Cheers.] I thank you very sincerely for a demonstration which I cannot accept as personal--all this is too great for any man--but as a spontaneous tribute to our free institutions. I accept this as an evidence that in all essential things we are one people. The fuller revelation of that fact to us all has been worth all the labor and time we have mutually expended in this long journey. In all essential things we are one; we divide and strive and debate, but we are patriotic American citizens, having a love for the Constitution and the flag that brings us all at last to submit our opinion to the lawfully expressed wish of the majority. [Cheers.]

And now again good-by. I shall leave behind me every good wish for your prosperity, individually as a municipality and as a State. [Cheers.]

After a drive over Capitol Hill the President and the gentlemen of his party were the guests of W. H. Bush at the Hotel Metropole. Senator Teller presided at luncheon.

Responding to a toast in honor of the President of the United States, General Harrison said:

_Gentlemen_--I cannot fail to respond to such a toast. Indeed, I should be unkind to you and to myself as well if I did not. However, I cannot speak at length in thanking you for the gracious hospitality I have received in Denver. I can truly say my visit has culminated in Denver. For pleasure during my stay here, for perfection in arrangement, for cordiality, and all things which go to make a stop pleasant, Denver has given a climax of enjoyment.

It has given me great pleasure to take note of some of the things which have made this beautiful city here and its recent and massive developments a wonder to the civilization of to-day. I am apt to judge the city by the home. That is with me the test, more than the business buildings, the manufactories, etc. It gives me great pleasure to state that in all my travels, and they have included all the States but two, I have never seen a city with such elegant homes as here. [Cheers.] I am sure, when you have worked out your silver mines and the more common products, stone and granite, you will have that which will last you for an indefinite time, and which will also add to the beauty of your already beautiful city. [Cheers.]

I have the pleasure of testifying to the satisfaction with which the party has spent these few days in the Centennial State. I hope I may have the pleasure of being with you again at some near future time.

I say good-by, and again express our thanks for your hospitality, which has been excelled nowhere on our journey. [Cheers.]

AKRON, COLORADO, MAY 12.

The President made his farewell Colorado speech at Akron at 9 o'clock at night. The Reception Committee consisted of Hon. D. W. Irwin, R. S. Langley, and J. M. Aitkin. Upward of 3,000 people welcomed the distinguished travellers. Colonel Griffith and Gen. L. C. Colby, Commander Nebraska State Guards, joined the party at Akron as the representatives of Governor John M. Thayer.

Commander John N. Tague, of Akron Post, G. A. R., introduced President Harrison, who said:

_My Friends_--It is very kind of you to gather here to-night as we pass by. We have had a very pleasant trip. Our interest in your State and our appreciation of its great resources have been very much increased on this visit. I am glad to find--indeed, I knew I should find--the same people here that we have in Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. Most of you come from some of those States, and you are not new people. I have been very much pleased to notice that here, as well as in the East, you take deep interest in schools and in all those things that tend to elevate a community and to set social order on a firm and secure basis. Allow me to thank you again, and to bid you good-night. [Cheers.]

HASTINGS, NEBRASKA, MAY 13.

Hastings, Nebraska's third city, was reached at 6:30 the morning of the 13th, and notwithstanding the early hour fully 10,000 people were present to welcome the President. The Reception Committee consisted of Mayor A. L. Clarke, Hon. John M. Ragan, C. H. Dietrich, Judge W. R. Burton, F. H. Firman, W. M. Kerr, General Dilworth, J. J. Buchanan, R. A. Batty, James B. Heartwell, A. F. Powers, A. V. Cole, M. Van Fleet, Dr. Johnson, Dr. J. E. Hilts, A. H. Brown, Dr. Cook, R. B. Wahlquist, and C. Cameron.

J. N. Clarke delivered the address of welcome and introduced President Harrison, who said:

_My Fellow-countrymen_--There is a freshness and a beauty about the Nebraska prairies, but I hope I will not fall in your esteem if I say I do not like to get up early. [Shouts, "Neither do we!"] Occasionally, in our trip, we seem to pick up an hour. When I retired at Denver last night, at none too early an hour, I was told that we would be at Hastings at 6:30. But we arrived here, it seems to me, at 5:20 by the time I went to bed by last night; but, my friends, all these things that make labor of travel are as nothing compared with the great gratification we find in such assemblages as this.

As we journeyed eastward we have seen the arid land where the water ran in ditches and did not fall in showers. That system has its advantages and its disadvantages, but I must confess that it seems more homelike for me to get back to the land where the showers fall and everything is fresh and green. This diversity of natural conditions and of agricultural and mineral wealth makes the greatness of our country. Diversity is found everywhere in nature, and it is a happy thing. It is found in the field and crop, but never in the people--any observing man can see that we are one people. [Cheers.] The people I saw in California, in Arizona, and all along our journey, were just such people as I see here; indeed, they were in a strict sense the same people, because they are Yankees, Pennsylvanians, Wisconsin men, Hoosiers, and Buckeyes--I think the Ohio man must be here. [Several responses of "Here we are!"]

The Westerners are the overspill of the enterprising population of the East. They kept going a little farther west, still a little farther, until at last they touched the Pacific; and so anywhere the traveller may go, if he will make himself known, the hands of old neighbors will be stretched out to him. Out of all this comes the love for the one flag, and I am glad to say that we have not passed any little way station--even in Arizona, where a few scores had gathered from distant ranches--but some one with an American flag was there and American cheers for that flag. Sometimes the incidents were almost pathetic. At one little station in Arizona, as we drew up in the darkness, there were half a dozen ranchers on the platform. I noticed on the lapels of two or three coats the Grand Army button. One of them shouted, "There are but few of us, but let us give a cheer for the old flag, boys!" [Cheers.]

I thank you most cordially for your gathering here. I do not know whether it is prejudice or not, but anyway I always have a very high opinion of a State whose chief production is corn. [Laughter and applause.]

CRETE, NEBRASKA, MAY 13.

At Crete the President received a musical welcome. Nedela's band rendered "America," and over 2,000 voices joined in the chorus. It was a beautiful tribute to patriotism. Governor Thayer, accompanied by Lieut. Gov. T. J. Majors, Secretary of State J. C. Allen, Auditor T. H. Benton, Treasurer J. E. Hill, Atty. Gen. Geo. H. Hastings, Adjt. Gen. A. V. Cole, Commissioner A. R. Humphry, and Col. H. E. Palmer, came down from Lincoln and met the President's party at Crete. The local Reception Committee consisted of Mayor Norris, ex-Governor Dawes, S. L. Andrews, Capt. John Sherrill, and H. M. Wells.

Governor Thayer introduced the President, who said:

_My Friends_--It appears sometimes in the heat of political campaigns that the American people do not agree upon anything; but after it is all over we take a broader survey of things and we find that underneath all these divisions is the bed rock of patriotism. In that at least we have a common purpose.

I am glad to see these children here this morning. They have greeted me everywhere with their happy smiles, and they brighten the way quite as much as the flowers that have been given us. It is pleasant to know that in these pioneer countries you are establishing common schools in order that the generation which is coming on may have a better chance than you had. I do not know of anything better than the father and mother working and striving that their children may have an easier and better chance in life than they had. I am very glad to see you all this morning, and thank you for your cordial welcome. [Cheers.]

LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, MAY 13

The capital of Nebraska was reached at 9 o'clock in the morning and the Lincolnites gave the President a warm greeting. The State officials, with Mayor Weir and the following prominent citizens, comprised the Committee of Reception: Maj. H. C. McArthur, Charles H. Gere, E. E. Brown, N. S. Harwood, C. M. Parker, C. E. Montgomery, S. S. Royce, A. H. Weir, J. B. Archibald, W. E. Churchill, Alva Brown, John D. Wright, Phelps Paine, J. B. Strode, C. H. Gould, Joseph Teeters, J. J. Imhoff, John H. McClay, D. W. Mosely, J. H. McMurtry, Professor Bessey, and Alva Kennard. During the march to the Capitol grounds the President was escorted by the veterans of Farragut Post, Martin Howe Commander, and Appomattox Post, C. W. Lyman Commander. Governor Thayer and Mayor Weir each delivered an address welcoming the President to Nebraska and to Lincoln.

President Harrison responded:

_Governor Thayer and Mr. Mayor_--It will, I think, be entirely impossible for me to make myself heard by this vast assemblage, situated as you are here this morning. Our stay with you is necessarily brief, and yet I do not want you to feel that we have discriminated against the political capital of one of the very greatest of the newer States. I have been so pressed with the engagements which have been suggested to us that I have only been able to give three-quarters of an hour to Indianapolis, my own home. I have given you the same, and I had hoped, very much, that this time could be extended and that I would be able to address you with more comfort to myself and to you.

We are here as American citizens, for common hope and love; we are here the friends of the flag, of the Constitution, of social order, of every school, of all that characterizes this Nation and makes it better than any other nation in the world.

I thank you, most cordially thank you, for this magnificent demonstration. It has but one fault, and that is it is altogether too large to be suitably arranged with a view to public speaking.