Mr. C. B. Wright. I must acknowledge it is somewhat embarrassing for a plain Dutchman like myself, [laughter] to be called upon so suddenly to speak upon matters of vital importance. My friend, Governor Kirkwood, the man of large and varied experience, has given you such an amount of good advice, that I think I will hardly venture anything in that line. I have to admit that I come under the class of Eastern well balanced men, so facetiously mentioned by him, for (stroking his bald head) my hair is very much parted in the middle. [Laughter.] I would like, however, to make one slight correction in the description which the President gave of me. I am not a lawyer, nor the son of a lawyer, but only a plain Dutchman, whose education has been neglected, for I was never until now west of the Mississippi river. I thought Governor Kirkwood had an idea that the sun rose out of the Mississippi river, passed over the Capital city, and set on the western border of Iowa, and that his education had been neglected, but when he mentioned his belief that Washington Territory might yet equal Iowa, I was satisfied that I might be mistaken. I shall carry home with me most pleasing recollections. Our journey over the Rockies, down the Columbia to Portland, from there to the neighborhood of the California boundary and then back to reach this point, has given me memories which I cannot, and would not if I could, forget. I have seen considerable of the country, and my impressions have been in every instance of the most pleasing description. Not only have we been all pleased with the coast, but we have formed the highest possible opinion of the energy, perseverance and thrift of the men, and of the beauty, health and grace of the women. [Applause.] The Governor and myself being as you see, boys, have come to the conclusion that we cannot do better than settle down here and grow up with the country, and I doubt not Mr. Gilkerson will soon make up his mind to follow us. [Laughter and applause.] The great work now carried to completion in this grand inter-oceanic highway, considered in connection with the difficulties that had to be surmounted, few of us here can appreciate. In times of war we hear of great generals who snatch victory from the very grasp of defeat; who rally the shattered and fugitive forces, and by the example of their own personal courage and bravery turn into conquest, what threatened to be an utter and irretrievable rout. We have heard of gallant soldiers who did not know when they were whipped, and it is well that poets should sing their praises, and historians hand down the record of their noble deeds as an example to future generations. We can measure the courage and nerve needed to perform such deeds as these, and we can appreciate at its true value the individual bravery of the soldier and his leader, who braves and overcomes what wears all the appearance of certain defeat. We can admire the heroism of the officer, who, at the head of his column, dashed forward with the shout, "Come on, brave boys, let us retake the lost positions." But let me tell you it is far harder to estimate the courage needed to seize on a financial wreck, and by consummate energy, judgment and determination make it again seaworthy. There is nothing harder to restore than the confidence of a capitalist when once it is shaken. In the words of one who is thoroughly acquainted with the subject by long experience, "There is nothing more cowardly in the world than a million of dollars, unless it be two millions of dollars." There is nothing so timid as capital, and when a man has achieved such a triumph as to restore forfeited confidence in such a gigantic enterprise as the Northern Pacific Railroad, and by dint of energy and mature judgment carries that enterprise to a triumphant completion, there is no material too enduring, and no monument too costly to serve as a memorial of his merits. Mr. Wright, when capitalists had lost all hope, put his shoulder to the wheel, laid broad and deep the foundations of this grand work, and then a gleam of the light of hope shone upon it, the enterprise prospered as if by magic, and now that its completion is virtually an accomplished fact, it is pleasant for us to meet him on such an occasion as the present, when such a large and representative audience is met here to do him honor. A man has no conception of this country, of its vast area, its glorious diversified scenery, or the practically boundlessness of its resources until he leaves the Atlantic Coast, crosses the Alleghany mountains, passes through Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Iowa, over the Rockies into this very Garden of Eden on the Pacific Coast. I entirely agree with Governor Kirkwood in his opinion, that until a man has made this journey his education is not complete. * * * This grand country of mountains, rivers, highways and harbors-this land of colleges, churches and common schools the strength of our great Republic [applause] is ours. We have a people full of charity, benevolence and liberality, and in speaking of their greatness, the vastness of their wealth which finds a channel through their charity and liberality, we are to remember that to the working man we owe much, very much of it all. The hardy son of toil is the very backbone and strength of the country. But in saying this we are not to forget to do justice to the capitalist, who by industry and sagacity, has amassed wealth, and who, at the critical moment, throws it all into the balance, risking it all to save a great enterprise, and thus enabling labor to accomplish conjointly with capital what it never could have attempted without it. * * * * The results of all this great work are ours, for they have become identified with this glorious country which is our inheritance. Ours by the patriot's holy love, Ours by his deathly throe; Ours by the starry flag above, Ours by the blood below. Ours by the freeman's titled deed To the land of liberty; Ours for the freeman's sacred creed, Ours for humanity. Ours from the placid Western sea, To the Emerald Eastern slopes; Ours by our fathers' history, Ours for our children's hopes. Ours from the North lakes crystal waves Ours by the changeless right of graves, Ours by the homes that deck the land, Ours by the ages' stern demand, Ours by the gift of God. [Prolonged applause.] CHAPTER XXI. Interviewed in San Francisco-The Indian Question Again-Favors Blaine for President-Takes the Stump for Him—Is Nominated for Congress-Accepts-His Letter of Acceptance-Hiram Price for Him -Speech at Muscatine. When in San Francisco, Gov. Kirkwood was met by a representative of the Chronicle, who drew this pen picture of him, and to whom was accorded an interview: "S. J. Kirkwood, Secretary of the Interior under President Garfield, who arrived in the city from the North on last Thursday, is a comfortable looking man of apparently 60 years of age, though in reality he is almost 70. He wears plain clothes, constructed on liberal allowances for a figure but little under six feet, weighing about 180 and which tends but slightly to corpulency; the face is full, benevolent, intelligent with rugged, expressive features and framed by gray galways. The forehead is high and square, and does not extend to the back of the neck, as the ex-Secretary has still a good growth of iron gray hair. The gentleman seems to have an aversion to all kinds of ornament, for on his portly person the only thing that approaches jewelry, is a steel watch chain. Unassuming as his clothes, so are also his manners, and when a Chronicle reporter called upon him he accorded an interview most readily. 'Don't ask for news, for I have none,' he said, 'I came through a country where such a thing is not known, and have not had a chance to read the papers in order to see how the world is getting on.' 'Have you read the account of Sheridan's new Indian policy in connection with the President's visit to the Shoshone Reservation, in to-day's paper?' 'No I have not. 'But you have opinions concerning the oft-mooted plan of transferring the Indians to the War Department?' 'Well yes, I have had something to do with the Indian policy of the country, and can't very well deny that I have formed certain ideas. One of these is that the army ought not to be charged with the guardianship of the Indians. You see the end and aim of every Indian policy must be to make civilized people out of the savages. Now that can be done only by teaching them to work. But the Indian is not a born worker, and it is difficult to make him do that. He is a hunter. and a warrior. He knows nothing of personal property rights, except in connection with his arms and his ponies. The avowed policy of the Interior Department has been to train him and teach him by confiding his management to people from whom he can take an example.' 'Has not the example been a failure?' 'Pretty generally I admit. We have succeeded in making paupers out of the Indians, by trying to help them, and paupers are the most difficult class of all to reform. The worst thing you can do is to help a man who can, and won't help himself. The Interior Department is supposed to have furnished examples and opportunities to initiate them only, but in reality it has gone much further. If the change to the War Department is made, the endeavors to make workers out of the red men will cease of themselves. The army officers will tell the Indian that he must work, and the Indian will ask in return, 'Why don't you work?' 'Oh! we are soldiers and warriors,' our noble men of the army will reply, 'And so are we,' the red men will say and that will end it. The army can make targets out of the Indians, but it can't turn them into agriculturists.' "Then do you think that the Interior Department has been successful in its policy and management.' 'No, I won't say that. As I have already said, a great many of the Indian tribes have been effectually pauperized. Some tribes however have been reclaimed and have becomed fairly good citizens. The success of the policy depends a great deal upon the agents, some of whom are good and some are very bad. But I am satisfied that the War Department will never solve the Indian question, unless it solves it with powder and ball, which would be more of a dissolution than a solution.' * * * The interview covered the Land Grant question and the question of corporations in politics which were fully discussed and concluded with: 66 'Do you think the monopoly issue will enter largely into the next Presidential canvass?' 'Well no. Both parties are committed to the doctrine of corporate control. I think the tariff issue will be far more important. People feel pretty strongly on that question in the east. The anti-monopoly question has not yet developed far enough, to come to the front, though I think it would come fast enough if the railroads were as arrogant, grasping and unjust in the east as they are said to be here.'"' The nomination of James G. Blaine as a candidate for President on the Republican ticket in 1884 was most gratifying to Gov. Kirkwood, as he believed him to be the best selection that could have been made, and he took the stump |