The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1891-10-09
PREsyDENr HARRrsoN,s SPEECHES.

PRESIDENTIAL char; tirSt has acts. second
his words. Accepting the maxim that
factions speak louder than words" we
have already reviewed the record Of this
administration and shown that when
weighed in the balance it is in no way
found wanting. But words must be
weighed as well as actions for complete
judgment Indeed, in republic, where
the right to rule must be based on rea-
son, it is no small test of any mans fit
ness for high place whether he can ac-
quit himself well in speaking to the peo-
pie.
1t is fact worth thinking upon that
in every land aud every age the great
chosen rulers of free countries have near
ly always been men powerful and per-
suasive speech 1t was so in ancient
Greece, Her most glorious era was that
when PCricleS was at the summit of
government, and he possessed at once
the craftsmanship to plan immortal
achievements and the eloqucnce to CON
vince the people of Athens that his
plans were good. It was and is so in
Great Britain, where William Pitt, after
ward the Earl of Chatham, whose elo-
quencc has been described as resembling
sometimes the thunder and sometimes
the music Of the spheres, gave his coun-
try an administration rs Prime Minister
so ''practical' that she rose in few
years from q position Of comparative
weakness to that of the most honOred of
the great nations of the world. Glad
stones fame as an orator. is hardly ST.
periOr in England to his fame as a con-
summate master of the whole science of
taxation and government finance. 1t
was and is so in the United States. Al
eXander Hamilton, our cOuutrys first
Secretary Of the Treasury, OF whom it
has been said with pariouabie eXaggera-
ton that he did ms work so well that
the office has been sinocure for all his
successors, was . wonderful orator.
Abraham Lincoln, whom James Russell
Lowell, wich equally pardonablo exag-
geration called the FIRST American
rose to his eXauitod place ON the wings
of oratoly, and being there, did his nm
paralleled work with Incompatible ex-
cellence.
We have Thought it worth while to say
these things because there arc people,
ignorant Of history, aud incapable of
deep thought, who foolishly imagine
that President IIauisou's gifts Of speech
do not count among his qualifications
for his high Office. They do and ought
to count very largely. He has proved
himself one of the very best public
speakers chat this country has known in
political life. There are two sorts of
speeches to be expected from a party
leader who is also a high official. The
first is poltical; the second, uon-politi-
cal. Tried by either standard the Presi-
dents friends may well challenge com
parisOn between him and any other man
in the country At indianapolis, dur
ing the campaign Of 1855, the Republ-
can candidate addressed, day after day,
delegations from al classes of society
and all sections of the country.
He usually, as was proper, dealt with
the pending issues of the campaign it
had previously been considered dan
gerOus thing for the interests of a Presi-
dental candidate if he made speeches
other than formal or colorless ones
More than one candidate had come to
grief by that means. But Benjamin
Harrison proved himself of better metal
Every speech he made helped his cause.
He said just enough, none too much,
just the right and wise thing, and said it
so pungently that those who heard and
those who read remembered
Since his Inauguration President Har-
rison has, of course, has not from taken
part in political campaigns, but not long
ago at Albany he delivered, while en-
route for Bennington, a little speech in
which he spoke the most profound, tren-
chant and sensible words yet uttered on
the question Of coinage and the curren-
cy. That little speech had an instant
and powerful effect throughout the
country.
As for non-pOlitical addresses, what |
speeches could be better than the series
spoken during the Presidents late South
ern and Western tom9 The task was
one of singular difficulty and delicacy,
in the South The country
will not soon forget the thrill of pleas
ure and pride with which it read each
morning the reports of what it's honored |
Chief Magistrate had been saying for
the preceding day. And as the days
went on the delight increased for there
were always new surprises of freshness,
aptness, skill, courtesy with perfect
frankness, and withal a manliness that
disarmed opposition and extorted admi-
ration at every stage of the long journey.
His speeches in this city two years ago
last spring, on occasion of the centennial
celebration Of the Inauguration of Presi-
dent Washington, were equally admira-
BILE. So was the eloquent fervid and felic-
itous speech at the unwilling of the mon
ument TO General Stark at Bennington.
In short, the Republican party has not
only given the county President whose
is invulnerable to parts
an criticism, but has placed in the most
exalted seat of the peoples power a
man who is as forceful in speech as he is
strong in action; whose acts the country