I mention this incident at some length because, at the time, it excited much comment in the press throughout the United States. It is but fair to say that the action of the hotel proprietor was condemned by the leading Democrats of Birmingham, prominent among whom was the editor of the "Iron Age."
In the evening I spoke at the opera house, which was well filled with representative citizens. I was introduced by Rufus M. Rhodes, president of the News Publishing Company. My speech was confined mainly to nonpartisan subjects, to the industries in that section, and the effect of national legislation upon them. I had read of the vast deposits of coal and iron in that section, and had that day seen them for myself. I said: "You have stored in the surrounding hills elements of a wealth greater than all the banks of New York." In speaking of the effect of national legislation upon the development of their resources, I said I would not allude to politics, because, though a strict party man, as they all knew, I believed that men who differed with me were as honest as I was; that whatever might have occurred in the past, we were a reunited people; that we had had our differences, and men of both sides sought to have their convictions prevail, but I would trust the patriotism of an ex-Confederate in Alabama as readily as an ex- Unionist in Ohio; that I was not there to speak of success in war, but of the interests and prosperity of their people. My nonpartisan speech was heartily approved. General Warner made a brief address to his former constituents, and the meeting then adjourned.
I went the next day to Nashville, arriving early in the evening. A committee of the legislature met me on my way. On my arrival I met many of the members of both political parties, and was the recipient of a serenade at which William C. Whitthorne, a Democratic Member of Congress, made a neat speech welcoming me to the hospitality of the state. None of the speeches contained any political sentiments, referring mainly to the hopeful and prosperous outlook of the interests of Tennessee. During the next day I visited with the committee, at the head of which was Mr. Kerchival, the mayor of the city, several manufacturing establishments, and the Fisk and Vanderbilt universities, and also a school for colored boys. Among the more agreeable visits that day was one made at the residence of Mrs. Polk, the widow of President Polk. I remembered her when she was the honored occupant and mistress of the White House, at the time of my first visit to Washington in the winter of 1846-47. She was still in vigorous health, and elegant and dignified lady.
I wish here to express my grateful appreciation of the reception given me by the people of Nashville on this occasion. There was no appearance of mere form and courtesy due to a stranger among them, but a hearty general welcome, such as would be extended to one representing their opinions and identified with their interests. I met there several gentlemen with whom I had served in Congress, most of whom had been in the Confederate service. One of them paid me a compliment after hearing my speech by saying: "Sherman, your speech will trouble the boys some, but I could answer you."
This speech was made on the evening of the 24th of March, 1887, in the hall of the house of representatives. It was carefully prepared with the expectation that it would be delivered to an unsympathetic audience of able men. I delivered it with scarcely a reference to my notes, and substantially in the language written. Tennessee and Kentucky had been Whig states, strongly in favor of protection, and before the war were represented by John Bell and Henry Clay. I claimed my fellowship with the people of Tennessee in the old Whig times, and, aside from the questions that grew out of the war, assumed that they were still in favor of the policy of protection of American industries by tariff laws. I did not evade the slavery question or the War of the Rebellion, but said of them what I would have said in Ohio. I made an appeal on behalf of the negro, and quoted what Senator Vest had eloquently said, that "the southern man who would wrong them deserves to be blotted from the roll of manhood." All we asked for the negro was that the people of Tennessee would secure to him the rights and privileges of an American citizen, according to the constitution of the United States. I then presented the questions of the hour, taxation, currency, public credit, foreign and domestic commerce, education and internal improvements. On these questions I said the people of Tennessee had like interests and opinions with the people of Ohio, that the past was beyond recall, that for evil or good the record was made up and laid away. I discussed each of these subjects, dwelling mainly on taxation and currency; in the one was the protection and promotion of home industries, and in the other was the choice between bank notes of the olden time, and United States notes and national bank notes secured by the bonds of the United States. I closed with these words:
"But I do, in the presence of you all, claim for the Republican party, and defy contradiction, that in the grandeur of its achievements, in the benefits it has conferred upon the people, in the patriotic motives that have animated it, and the principles that have guided it, in the fidelity, honesty, and success of its administration of great public trusts, it will compare favorably with the record of any administration of any government in ancient or modern times. We ask you to aid us, to help us. We make this appeal in the same words to the Confederate gray as to the Union blue—to whoever in our great country is willing in the future to lend a helping hand or vote to advance the honor, grandeur and prosperity of this great republic."
The speech, being made by a Republican at the capital of a southern Democratic state, attracted great attention from the public press, and, much to my surprise, several of the leading Democratic and independent papers commended it highly. This was notably the case with the Louisville "Courier Journal," the Washington "Evening Star," and the New York "Herald." A brief extract from the latter is given as an indication of public sentiment:
"Senator Sherman's Nashville speech is the first address on national politics ever spoken by a Republican of national reputation to a southern audience. He was welcomed by the prominent citizens of the Tennessee capital, and spoke to a crowded and attentive audience in the hall of representatives.
"Both the speech and the welcome the speaker received are notable and important events. Mr. Sherman spoke as a Republican in favor of Republican politics, and what he said was frankly and forcibly put. If the Republican leaders are wise they will take care to circulate Mr. Sherman's Nashville speech all over the south, and through the north as well. He spoke for high protection, for internal improvements, for liberal expenditures on public buildings, for the Blair education bill, for the maintenance of the present currency system, and for spending the surplus revenue for public purposes.
"All that is the straightest and soundest Republican doctrine. He told his hearers, also, that the war is over, and that the interests of Tennessee and other southern states must naturally draw them to the Republican party. He spoke to attentive ears."