Mr. Chairman:-After the fit and appropriate words of the Chairman of his home delegation, in nominating the candidate of my choice, it is not necessary that I should detain you long in seconding his nomination, and I shall endeavor to deserve the gratitude of this assembly by observing the rule of brevity.

We are here, gentlemen of this Convention, in a spirit of friendly rivalry to nominate, among other officers, two Congressmen, who will occupy seats in the LIV Congress of the United States, which will elect that fearless leader and prince of parliamentarians, Tom Reed, as Speaker of that House.

We are here, beyond all doubt, with no feeling of bitterness, or word of unkindness for any gentleman whose name will be presented as a candiate; but on the contrary, a spirit of harmony and of good feeling pervades this Convention, which promises much for the success of the ticket which we are here to nominate. Beadle County has no candidate for Congress, and no matter which of the gentlemen, whose names have been mentioned for that high honor, are selected by this Convention, I feel sure that, true to her grand history

in the past, she will give to the nominees of this Convention a rousing, good majority.

But, there are some counties in this State which must be redeemed this year from the stigma of Populist pluralities, and others yet which hang trembling in the balance.

In view of these facts, and of the importance of the approaching election, I am sure I hear a responsive echo from every delegate in this Convention, when I say that it is your duty to give to the Republicans of the State, the strongest men who can possibly be presented for the suffrages of the people.

It is a foregone conclusion that, at least one of the nominees of this Convention for Congress will be, as is eminently fit and proper he should be, a soldier, and a fit representative of that grand tower of strength, the soldier element in the Republican Party. But, while conceding the fitness of such a representation, you should not forget that at each biennial election in this State, several thousand young men, who have just attained their majority, cast their first ballots; and that, moreover, a large proportion of the voters in South Dakota are men who have not crossed life's meridian.

Without contending that either youth or age is a nec. essary qualification for office, or a never failing element of strength, we do claim, that in making up a ticket

which will give the greatest satisfaction to the largest number, and which will poll the most votes on election day, that it is wise to take these things into consideration.

Gentlemen of this Convention, as an humble representative of the younger element of the Republican Party of this State, I rise to second the nomination of that acknowledged leader of the young Republicans of South Dakota; that manly man, whose character as a private citizen, and whose reputation, as a lawyer and a public man, is spotless and above reproach; that prince of Republicans, Robert J. Gamble, of Yankton County.

I shall give you no biographical sketch of our candidate, because from the earliest settlement, almost, of this Territory, throughout all our struggles for division and Statehood, and down to the present time, the name of Gamble has been a familiar one to every Dakotan, and has likewise been synonymous with true Republicanism.

I am sure no man who ever felt the warm pressure of his hand in friendly grasp; no man who ever looked into his strong but kindly face, and heard the sound of his manly voice, ever visits Yankton without recalling, with sorrow and regret, the abruptly terminated career of the lamented John R. Gamble.

To many of us, who knew him well, there will be

a double fitness, an increased pleasure, and an added measure of justice and of satisfaction, in giving to his brother an opportunity to fulfill the career he had marked out for himself.

But it is not upon this ground that the friends of Robert J. Gamble ask for him a nomination at the hands of this Convention; but because they respect and love him for his own virtues and abilities; and because they believe in their hearts that his name will add more strength to the ticket, which you are here to nominate, coupled with the name of your soldier candidate, than any other member of the Republican party in this State.

Give us Robert J. Gamble, as one of the nominees of this Convention, and not only will he inspire the young Republicans of this State with enthusiasm, and add strength to the ticket, but afterward, when he shall have been elected, and taken his seat in Congress, he will, I know, discharge the duties of his high office in such a manner as to win honors for himself and supporters for his party.