The record-union., 1898-10-21

Iall0IuA
every duty and obligation.
Yours is at once a profession of
great risk and of grave responsibility
Know or no occupation in the sphere
or human endeavor which carries with
1t greater obligations or higher re-
spons1bilities than the profession of
railroad men, You carry the commerce
OF the country, you carry the rich
treasures of the country from the At
lantic to the Pacific, and you carry
daily and hourly the freightage of hu-
manity; they trust to you, your integ-
rity, to your intelligence and your fidel-
ity for the safeguarding of their lives;
and congratulate the country from the
bottom of my heart that in this great
system so interviewer with the every
day life of the citizens of the republic
we have such splendid character and
such high intelligence.
L bring to you to-day not only nv
good will, but 1 bring to you the good
Will and respect of seventy millions of
American citizens. Your work is he
rore critical audience; you go in and
out every day before your countrymen.
ana You have ever deserved of YOUR
countrymen the unstinted praise and
approval OF your fidelity to the great
interest you represent. The virtue of
the people lies at the foundation of the
repuDllc; the power of the people is in
the American fireside. The virtue that
comes out of the holy altar of home is
the most priceless gift this nation has.
and when the voice of the people
speaks from the home of the people if
Is command to Congress and the F,x
ecutlve-it is the law of the republic.
L thank you, my fellow citizens for
your cordial greeting. and 7 conpratu-
late you on the evidences of returning
prosperity everywhere. What you.
what we all want is business pros
perlty. When you have that you have
something to do; when YOU have if
not, then you are idle. There are few
empties now on the side track daughter
and applause). And there are few rail-
road men not employed now. The moro
you see the freight car, the oftener YOU
see the pay car
L am very glad to observe that the
First Illinois Regiment is in your pres
ence to-day (applause). that gallant
regiment made up of the volunteers
from the homes of Chicago. who took
went to Santiago to fight the battle
Oh liberty against oppression. L am glad
10 nave TINS opportunity to meet and
greet them and to congratulate and
thank them in the name of the Ameri-
can people. And, now, having said this
much, L hope you know that / will
carry from this place-from this audi
ehce, from these warm hearted men and
women. the pleasant memory of my
long trip through the Vest
At the conclusion of President Nc
klnley's remarks, the audience broke
into wild cheers which lasted fully five
minutes.
Following President Mckinley came
Judge John Barton Payne of Chicago.
who spoke as follows:
Few events in the history of the
country more fittingly illustrate the
dignity of labor than this great meeting
and the presence here of the President
CT the United States. Labor is the life
OF our people, and the basis of our civ
lllzation and progress. There is no room
under our system of government for
al discussion of the so-calIed classes and
the masses; here the son of the artisan.
the farmer and the day laborer may in
a single generation reasonably hold any
of the great offices in the gift of our
people, and may become one of the
wealthy of the land That this not only
may happen but has happened so often
as to cease to be matter for comment
we all know.
Your organization has constantly
refused to lend itself to the visionary
aid of Utopian schemes which con-
stantly appear and reappear and are
forgotten. No man is a friend of labor
who is not willing on all occasions to
tell the truth in the discussion of pub
lie questions. No part of our people
are more interested in and dependent
upon a stable and just Government
than the persons called the laboring
men. The rich and powerful can pro-
tect themselves, the poor need the pro-
tecting hand of stable institutions and
the demagogue should find no place"
Other speakers on the program were
George r. Peck and E. E. Clark of the
Conductors, F. P. Sargent of the
Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen.
P H. Morrissey of the Brotherhood of
Railway Trainmen, p. A. Arthur of the
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers
An informal reception for the railway
men was held by the President after
the addresses. Mr.. Mckinley was sta
toned in an inclosure on the first bal
cony above the entrance where the
railway men filed singly. AS they came
up to the President one by one the ex-
tended hands were grasped by the
President The men were all ad- |
mitted into the Armory by ticket. The |
guests from Washington |
We're present and composed the group |
which surrounded the President on the |
balcony.