The President replied:
My Fellow-citizens—Among all the surprises that have greeted us on our journey I do not remember any that burst upon us with more suddenness than this beautiful sight that you have arranged for our welcome here. Travelling for some hours through a sparsely settled region, I did not at all anticipate that so large an assemblage could be gathered here. I am glad to read in your faces a full confirmation of the Mayor's words of welcome. You have a pride in the common heritage of Government which our fathers organized for us. You honor the flag which floats about us here. It is pleasant to meet here, scattered over these plains of the West, so many veterans of the great Civil War, men who came out of the army poor as they went into it, men who did not serve their country for reward, but out of a loving fealty to its flag and to their Government; men who asked no questions about pay, but went with loyal hearts to battle, determined that the flag should be maintained in its supremacy from sea to sea; men who, returning safely from the vicissitudes of the camp and the march and from the perils of battle, have been ever since giving their brave endeavors to open this new country, to increase its prosperity, and by honorable labor to make comfortable homes for themselves and their children. I greet you to-day, comrades, with a loving heart. God grant that these later days—for years are increasing with us all—may be full of sunshine, full of the respect of your neighbors, full of prosperity, and crowned at last with the full blessing of immortality.
To these little ones now enjoying the beneficent provisions which your State has made for their care and education I give the most affectionate greeting. The children of this land are the light and the life of our households. They are in the family what the blossoms are in the orchard and garden. May they appreciate the blessings they enjoy, and when they come to mature years and take up the unfinished labors of their fathers, may they hold aloft the flag which their fathers followed to battle and maintain all those things that conduce to decent and orderly communities and to the purity of the home. To these pioneers who have under discouragements and great difficulties sought these Western homes and opened the way for civilization I give my greeting, and to all I give the assurance that these distant States are not forgotten by us who are, for the time, chosen to administer public office at Washington. We take you all into our consideration, our confidence, and our affection. I believe there is a great community of interest that touches all our States. I believe that our legislation should be as broad as our territory, should not be for classes, but should be always in the interest of all our people. And now, thanking you for this most interesting and cordial welcome, I bid you good-by. [Cheers].
[LE GRANDE, OREGON, MAY 7.]
The President had an enthusiastic reception at Le Grande from several thousand residents. The city was beautifully illuminated in honor of the visit. The Committee of Reception consisted of Hon. J. H. Slater, E. S. McComas, M. F. Honan, and R. E. Bryan. Mayor C. H. Finn made the welcoming address.
The President responded:
My Fellow-citizens—It is very gratifying to see this vast assembly here to-night, and I regret that our arrival was not in the daylight, that we might have a better view of this city and its surroundings, as well as of these prosperous and happy people who are assembled here to-night. We have travelled many thousands of miles on this journey, and it has been one continued succession of happy greetings. We have passed through the land of flowers, and they have strewn our pathway with them. We have come now to this north land where the flowers are not so abundant, but where the welcome and heartiness of the people is quite as manifest and quite as sincere. I rejoice to have had the opportunity to see portions of the State of Oregon which I had not previously visited. Your industries and products are so varied that working together, supplying the wants of different communities by the productions of each, it must be that you shall grow in population, and that the rewards of your labor shall be full and rich. But above all these material things in which you show the country the resources of your people, I rejoice that social order, education, good morals, and all those things that tend to promote the human happiness, the peace of your communities, and the glory of your State, are also here thought of and promoted. [Cheers.] We are citizens of one great country, and I do not believe there is a nation in the world where there is a more perfect unification of heart and purpose than in the United States of America. I do not believe there is anywhere any people more earnestly in love with their institutions and with the flag that symbolizes them, more in love with peace and peaceful industries, and yet stronger in their defence of the truth and of the right. [Cheers.] I beg again to thank your citizens of this city and of the surrounding country for this gracious and hospitable welcome. [Cheers.]