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.]