absorb any of our weaker neighbors, but
rather to aid and encourage them to es-
tablish free and stable governments, rest-
ing upon the consent of their own people.
We have a clear right to expect, there-
fore, that no European government will
seek to establish colonial dependencies
upon the territory of these independent
American states. That which a sense of
justice restrains us from seeking they may
be reasonably expected willingly to fore-
go-
It must not be assumed, however, that
our interests are so exclusively Ameri-
can that our entire inattention to any
events that may transpire elsewhere can
be taken for granted. Our citizens domi-
ciled for purposes of trade in all coun-
tries and in many of the islands of the
sea demand and will have our adequate
care in their personal and commercial
rights.
The necessities of our navy require con-
venient coaling-stations and dock and har-
bor privileges. These and other trading
privileges we will feel free to obtain only
by means that do not in any degree par-
take of coercion, however feeble the gov-
ernment from which we ask such conces-
sions. But having fairly obtained them by
methods and for purposes entirely con-
sistent with the most friendly disposi-
tion towards all other powers, our con-
sent will be necessary to any modification
or impairment of the concession.
We shall neither fail to respect the
flag of any friendly nation or the just
rights of its citizens, nor to exact the
like treatment for our own. Calmness,
justice, and consideration should charac-
terize our diplomacy. The offices of an
intelligent diplomacy or of friendly ar-
bitration in proper cases should be ade-
quate to the peaceful adjustment of all
international difficulties. By such methods
we will make our contribution to tne
world's peace, which no nation values
more highly, and avoid the opprobrium
which must fall upon the nation that
ruthlessly breaks it.
The duty devolved by law upon the
President to nominate and, by and with
the advice and consent of the Senate, to
appoint all public officers whose appoint-
ment is not otherwise provided for in the
Constitution or by act of Congress has
become very burdensome, and its wise and
efficient discharge full of difficulty. The
civil list is so large that a personal knowl-
edge of any large number of the applicants
is impossible. The President must rely
upon the representations of others, and
these are often made inconsiderately and
without any just sense of responsibility.
I have a right, I think, to insist that those
who volunteer or are invited to give ad-
vice as to appointments shall exercise con-
sideration and fidelity. A high sense of
duty and an ambition to improve the
service should characterize all public offi-
cers.
There are many ways in which the con-
venience and comfort of these who have
business with our public officers may be
promoted by a thoughtful and obliging
officer, and I shall expect those whom I
may appoint to justify their selection
by a conspicuous efficiency in the discharge
of their duties. Honorable party service
will certainly not be esteemed by me a
disqualification for public office, but it
will in no case be allowed to serve as a
shield of official negligence, incompetency,
or delinquency. It is entirely creditable
to seek public office by proper methods
and with proper motives, and all appli-
cants will be treated with consideration;
but I shall need, and the heads of depart-
ments will need, time for inquiry and de-
liberation. Persistent importunity will
not, therefore, be the best support of
an application for office. Heads of de-
partments, bureaus, and all other public
officers having any duty connected there-
with will be expected to enforce the civil-
service law fully and without evasion.
Beyond this obvious duty I hope to do
something more to advance the reform
of the civil service. The ideal, or even
my own ideal, I shall probably not at-
tain. Eetrospect will be a safer basis
of judgment than promises. We shall
not, however, I am sure, be able to put
our civil service upon a non - partisan
260
HARRISON, BENJAMIN
basis until we have secured an incumbency stated, reliable, and rapid means of oom-
that fair-minded men of the opposition munication, and until these are provided
will approve for impartiality and integ- the development of our trade with the
rity. As the number of such in the civil states lying south of us is impossible.
list is increased removals from office will Our pension laws should give more
diminish. adequate and discriminating relief to the
While a treasury surplus is not the Union soldiers and sailors and to their
greatest evil, it is a serious eviL Our widows and orphans. Such occasions as
revenue should be ample to meet the this should remind us that we owe every -
ordinary annual demands upon our treas- thing to their valor and sacrifice,
ury, with a sufficient margin for those It is a subject of congratulation that
extraordinary but scarcely less imperative there is a near prospect of the admission
demands which arise now and then. Ex- into the Union of the Dakotas and Mon-
penditure should always be made with tana and Washington Territories. This
economy and only upon public necessity, act of justice has been unreasonably de-
Wastefulness, profligacy, or favoritism laved in the case of some of them. The
in public expenditures is criminal. But people who have settled these Territories
there is nothing in the condition of our are intelligent, enterprising, and patriotic,
country or of our people to suggest that and the accession of these new States will
anything presently necessary to the public add strength to the nation. It is due to
prosperity, security, or honor should be the settlers in the Territories who have
unduly postponed. availed themselves of the invitations of
It will be the duty of Congress wisely our land laws to make homes upon the
to forecast and estimate these extraor- public domain that their titles should be
dinary demands, and, having added them speedily adjusted and their honest entries
to our ordinary expenditures, to so adjust confirmed by patent.
our revenue laws that no considerable It is very gratifying to observe the gen-
annual surplus will remain. We will eral interest now being manifested in the
fortunately be able to apply to the re- reform of our election laws. Those who
demption of the public debt any small have been for years calling attention to
and unforeseen excess of revenue. This is the pressing necessity of throwing about
better than to reduce our income below the ballot-box and about the elector
our necessary expenditures, with the re- further safeguards, in order that our elec-
sulting choice between another change of tions might not only be free and pure,
our revenue laws and an increase of the but might clearly appear to be so, will
public debt. It is quite possible, I am welcome the accession of any who did not
sure, to effect the necessary reduction in so soon discover the need of reform. The
our revenues without breaking down our national Congress has not yet taken con-
protective tariff or seriously injuring any trol of elections in that case over which
domestic industry. the Constitution gives it jurisdiction, but
The construction of a sufficient number has accepted and adopted the election laws
of modern war-ships and of their neces- of the several States, provided penalties
sary armament should progress as rapidly for their violation, and a method of super-
as is consistent with care and perfection vision. Only the inefficiency of the State
in plans and workmanship. The spirit, laws or an unfair partisan administration
courage, and skill of our naval officers of them could suggest a departure from
and seamen have many times in our his- this policy.
tory given to weak ships and inefficient It was clearly, however, in the contem-
guns a rating greatly beyond that of the plation of the framers of the Constitution
naval list. That they will again do so that such an exigency might arise, and
upon occasion I do not doubt; but they provision wa3 wisely made for it. The
ought not, by premeditation or neglect, to freedom of the ballot is a condition of
be left to the risks and exigencies of an our national life, and no power vested in
unequal combat. We should encourage Congress or in the executive to secure or
the establishment of American steamship perpetuate it should remain unused upon
lines. The exchanges of commerce demand occasion. The people of all the con-
361
HARRISON, BENJAMIN
gressional districts have an equal interest
that the election in each shall truly express
the views and wishes of a majority of the
qualified electors residing within it. The
results of such elections are not local,
and the insistence of electors residing in
other districts that they shall be pure
and free does not savor at all of im-
pertinence.
If in any of the States the public
security is thought to be threatened by
ignorance among the electors, the obvious
remedy is education. The sympathy and
help of our people will not be withheld
from any community struggling with
special embarrassments or difficulties con-
nected with the suffrage if the remedies
proposed proceed upon lawful lines and
are promoted by just and honorable
methods. How shall those who practise
election frauds recover that respect for
the sanctity of the ballot which is the
first condition and obligation of good cit-
izenship? The man who has come to re-
gard the ballot-box as a juggler's hat has
renounced his allegiance.
Let us exalt patriotism and moderate
our party contentions. Let those who
would die for the flag en the field of bat-
tle give a better proof of their patriotism
and a higher glory to their country by
promoting fraternity and justice. A party
success that is achieved by unfair methods
or by practices that partake of revolu-
tion is hurtful and evanescent even from
a party stand-point. We should hold our
differing opinions in mutual respect, and,
having submitted them to the arbitrament
of the ballot, should accept an adverse
judgment with the same respect that we
would have demanded of our opponents
if the decision had been in our favor.
No other people have a government more
worthy of their respect and love or a land
so magnificent in extent, so pleasant to
look upon, and so full of generous sug-
gestion to enterprise and labor. God has
placed upon our head a diadem and has
laid at our feet power and wealth beyond
definition or calculation. But we must not
forget that we take these gifts upon the
condition that justice and mercy shall
hold the reins of power and that the up-
ward avenues of hope shall be free to all.
I do not mistrust the future. Dangers
have been in frequent ambush along our
path, but we have uncovered and van-
quished them all. Passion has swept some
of our communities, but only to give us
a new demonstration that the great body
of our people are stable, patriotic, and
law-abiding. No political party can long
pursue advantage at the expense of pub-
lic honor or by rude and indecent meth-
ods without protest and fatal disaffection
in its own body. The peaceful agencies
of commerce are more fully revealing the
necessary unity of all our communities,
and the increasing intercourse of our peo-
ple is promoting mutual respect. We shall
find unalloyed pleasure in the revelation
which our next census will make of the
swift development of the great resources
of some of the States. Each State will
bring its generous contribution to the
great aggregate of the nation's increase.
And when the harvests from the fields,
the cattle from the hills, and the ores of
the earth shall have been weighed, count-
ed, and valued, we will turn from them all
to crown with the highest honor the State
that has most promoted education, virtue,
justice, and patriotism among its people.
Washington Centennial Address. — On
April 30, 1889, President Harrison deliv-
ered the following address at the centen-
nial observance of the inauguration of
President Washington, in New York City:
Mr. President and Fellow - citizens, — I
should be unjust to myself, and, what is
more serious, I should be unjust to you,
if I did not at this first and last oppor-
tunity express to you the deep sense of
obligation and thankfulness which I feel
for those many personal and official cour-
tesies which have been extended to me
since I came to take part in this great
celebration. The official representatives of
the State of New York, and of this great
city, have attended me with the most
gracious kindness, omitting no office or
attention that could make my stay among
you pleasant and gratifying. From you
and the hundreds of thousands who have
thronged the streets of this great commer-
cial metropolis, I have received the most
cordial expressions of good-will. I would
not, however, have you understand that
these loud acclaims have been in any sense
appropriated as a personal tribute to my-
self. I have realized that there was that
?M
HARRISON, BENJAMIN
in this occasion and in all these incidents, occasion that these great thoroughfares,
which have made it so profoundly im-
pressive to my mind, which was above and
greater than any living man. I have real-
ized that that tribute of cordial interest
which you have manifested was rendered
rather to that great office which by the
favor of a great people I now exercise,
than to me.
dedicated to trade, have closed their
doors, and have covered the insignia of
commerce with the stars and stripes;
that your great exchanges have closed;
that in the very heart of Wall Street the
flag has been carried, and upon the old
historic spot men who give their time
and energies to trade have given these
The occasion and all its incidents will days to their country, to thoughts of her
be memorable, not only in the history of glory, and to aspirations of her honor
your State, but in the history of our coun- and prosperity.
try. New York did not succeed in re- I have great pleasure in believing that
taining the seat of national government love of country has been intensified in
here, though she made liberal provision many hearts here, not only of you who
for the assembling of the first Congress, might be called, and some of whom have
in the expectation that the Congress might been called, to give the witness of your
find its permanent home here; but though love of the flag upon batt'e-fields both of
you lost that which you coveted, I think sea and land, but in these homes, and
the representatives here of all the States among these fair women who look down
will agree that it was fortunate that the upon us to-night, and in the hearts of
first inauguration of Washington took
place in the State and in the city of New
these little chi'dren who mingled their
piping cries with the hoarser acclaims
York. For where in our country could of men as they moved along your streets
the centennial of the event have been so
worthily ce^brated as here? What sea-
board offered so magnificent a bay upon
which to display our naval and merchant
marine? What city offers thoroughfares
so magnificent, or a popi^ation so great
to-day, and I believe that patriotism has
been b'own into a higher and holier
flame in many hearts. These banners with
which you have covered your walls, these
patriotic inscriptions, must come down ;
and the ways of commerce and of trade
and so generous as New York has poured be resumed again here; but may I not
ask you to carry these banners that now
hang on the walls into your homes, into
the public school of your city, and into
til your great institutions where children
are gathered, and to drape them there,
that the eves of the young and of the old
out to-day to celebrate that event?
I have received at the hands of the com-
mittee who have been charged with the
details — onerous, exacting, and too often
unthankful — of this demonstration, an evi-
dence of their confidence in my physical
endurance which is flattering to me. But may look upon that flag as one of the fa-
I must also acknowledge still one other miMar adornments of every American
obligation. The committee having in home?
charge the exercises of this evening have Have you not learned that not stocks,
also given me an evidence of their or bonds, or stately houses, or lands, or
confidence, which has been accompanied products of mill or field is our country?
with some embarrassment. As I have It is a spiritual thought that is in our
noted the progress of this banquet, it
has seemed to me that each of those dis-
tinguished speakers has been made
acquainted with his theme before he took
his seat at the banquet-table, and that I
minds. It is the flag and what it stands
for, it is its glorious history, it is the
fireside and the home, it is the high
thoughts that are in the heart, born of
the inspiration which comes of the story-
alone was left to make acquaintance with of the fathers, the martyrs to liberty —
my theme when I sat down at the table, it is the graveyard into which our grate-
I prefer to substitute for the official title fill country has gathered the unconscious
which is upon the programme that famil- dust of those who died. Here in these
iar fireside expression, " Our Country." things is that thing we love and call our
I congratulate you to-day as one of the country — rather than anything that can
instructive and interesting features of this be touched or handled.
263
HARRISON
Let me hold the thought: That we
owe a duty to our country in peace as
well as in war. Perhaps never in the
history of our nation have we been so
well equipped for war upon the land as
now, and yet we have never seen a time
in our history when our people were more
smitten with a love of peace.
To elevate the morals of our people;
to hold up the law as that sacred thing
which, like the ark of God of old, may
not be touched by irreverent hands; to
frown upon every attempt to dethrone
its supremacy; to unite our people in all
that makes the home pure and honorable,
as well as to give our energies in the
direction of our material advancement —
this service we may render, and out of
this great demonstration do we not feel
like reconsecrating ourselves to the love
and to the service of our country?
Harrison, Carter Henry ; born in Ken-
tucky, Feb. 15, 1825; elected to Congress
from Illinois in 1874; mayor of Chicago
for five terms. He was assassinated in
that city Oct. 28, 1893.
Harrison, Kobert Hanson, jurist;
born in Maryland in 1745; secretary to
General Washington, 1775-81 ; chief-justice
of Maryland, 1781; justice of the United
States Supreme Court, 1789-90. He died
in Charles county, Md., April 2, 1790.
HARRISON, WILLIAM HENRY
Harrison, William Henry, ninth
President of the United States, in 1841 ;
Whig; born in Berkeley, Charles City
co., Va., Feb. 9, 1773; was a son of
Benjamin Harrison, governor of Vir-
ginia, and was educated at Hampden-
Sidney College. He began preparations
for the profession of medicine, but soon
abandoned it for a military life. In
1791 Washington commissioned him an en-
sign. Made a lieutenant in 1792, he after-
wards became an efficient aide to Gen-
eral Wayne, and with him went through
the campaign in Ohio, in 1794. After
the treaty of Greenville (1794), he was
placed in command of Fort Washington,
on the site of Cincinnati, and was pro-
moted to captain. While on duty at
North Bend, he was married to Anna,
daughter of Judge Symmes, an extensive
land-owner there. In 1797 he was ap-
pointed secretary of the Northwest Ter-
ritory, and left the army. In 1799 he
became a delegate to Congress, and was
made the first governor of Indian Ter-
ritory in 1801. That office he held until
1813, and, as superintendent of Indian
affairs, performed efficient service. In
the course of his administration, he made
thirteen important treaties with different
tribes. Harrison, at the head of troops,
gained a victory over the Indians, Nov.
7, 1811, at Tippecanoe (q. v.). He was
in command of the Army of the North-
west in the second war for independence,
in which post he was distinguished for
prudence and bravery. Resigning his
commission in 1814, he was employed in
making treaties with the Indians for
cessions of lands. From 1816 to 1819 he
was member of Congress from Ohio, and
from 1825 to 1828 was in the United
States Senate, having previously served a
term in the Ohio Senate. In 1828 Presi-
dent Adams sent him as minister to
Colombia, South America, and on his re-
turn he made his residence in North
Bend, O. In 1840 he was elected Presi-
dent of the United States, receiving 234
votes out of 294 (see Cabinet, Presi-
dent's). Just one month after he en-
tered upon his duties, April 4, 1841, he
died in the national capital. President
Harrison's remains lie in a vault upon
an eminence overlooking the Ohio River,
at North Bend.
While governor of the Indiana Terri-
tory, General Harrison, suspicious of the
movements of Tecumseh (q. v.), and also
of the Prophet (see Elkswatawa), in-
vited them to an interview at Vincennes.
Though requested not to bring more than
thirty followers, Tecumseh appeared
with about 400 warriors. The council
was held in a field just outside the vil-
lage. The governor, seated on a chair,
was surrounded by several hundred of
the unarmed people, and attended by
judges of the territory, several officers ot
the army, and by Winnemack, a friendly
Pottawattomie chief, who had on this
as on other occasions given Harrison
HARBISON, WILLIAM HENRY
notice of Tecumseh's hostile designs.
A sergeant and twelve men from the
fort were stationed under some trees
on the border of the field, and the Ind-
ians, who sat in a semicircle on the
ground, had left their rifles at their camp
in the woods, but brought their toma-
hawks with them. Tecumseh, in an open-
ing speech, declared the intention of the"
tribes, by a combination, not to counte-
nance any more cessions of Indian lands,
except Ly general consent. He contended
that the Indians were
one people, and the
lands, oelonging to the
whole in common, could
not be alienated by a
part. This position was
combated by Harrison,
who asserted that the
lands sold had been so
disposed of by the oc-
cupants, and that the
Shawnees had no busi-
ness to interfere. When
these words were in-
terpreted, Tecumseh,
with violent gesticula-
tions, declared the gov-
ernor's statements were
false, and that he and
the United States had
cheated and imposed
upon the Indians. As
he proceeded with in-
creased violence, his
warriors sprang to their feet, and be-
gan to brandish their tomahawks. Har-
rison started from his chair, and drew
hi? sword, as did the officers around him.
Winnemack cocked his loaded pistol, and
the unarmed citizens caught up whatever
at which he disclaimed all hostile inten-
tions against the white people, but gave
the governor to understand that he should
adhere to his determination to oppose all
cessions of land thereafter. Chiefs of
other tribes, who were with him, declared
their intention 10 adhere to the new con-
federacy. Anxious to ascertain the real
intentions of the Shawnee chief, Harrison
visited his camp, when Tecumseh told
him that he should make war on the
Americans with reluctance, and promised,
HARRISON'S GRAVE.
if the recent cessions were given up, and
the principle adopted by the United
States government of taking no more
land from the Indians without the con-
sent of all the tribes, he would be their
friend and ally, for he knew the pretended
missiles were at hand. The guard of friendship of the British was only selfish-
soldiers came running up, and were about ness. Yet, if the Americans persevered
upon
to fire
the Indians, but were in their methods of getting the land of
checked by the governor, who asked the the Indians, he should be compelled to
interpreter what was the matter. On join that people in war against the peo-
being informed, he denounced Tecumseh pie of the United States.
as a bad man; that, as he had come under
promise of protection, he might depart
Before the declaration of war against
England in June, 1812, Kentucky and
in safety, but he must instantly leave the Ohio made preparations for such an event,
neighborhood. The council broke up, and Early in May Governor Scott, of Ken-
Tecumseh retired to his camp. On the tueky, in obedience to instructions from